Path to You
by raindropdays
Summary: He came to their school as just another guy with a bad attitude. Little did they know he would change lives completely. Pairings include narusaku, kibahina, nejiten, shikaino and one-sided sasusaku. Based on Shippuuden ending 2 credits. A/U R
1. Prologue: Beginning Story

**A/N: Hi everyone! Welcome to my first fanfic on ! I'm so proud...anyway, this story is based on the 2nd ending of Naruto Shippuuden Michi To All of You by Aluto, so if you haven't seen the "animation" for that ending you might want to watch it before you read chapter 4! Anyway, please enjoy the prologue (i promise the real chapters will be longer/more eventful/BETTER!) oh and before I forget... disclaimer! Sasuke do it!**

**Sasuke: why?**

**A/N: just do it...**

**Sasuke: fine. raindropdays does not own any of the Naruto characters or the story, or the plot, or anything. happy?**

**A/N: ...hmm, maybe next time i should get Naruto to do it...hmm...**

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They were known as the most prestigious and famed throughout the country; aspiring teenagers with hopes to become something more than what they were now. They each had a purpose and a place, a statement, a reason to be known, a personality, claim-to-fame, a title. There were eleven of them. They had all come from different parts of the country with different reasons, and different dreams. Thrown together, in a whirl of colors and enforcements, they had been forced to be together, to know each other; and ultimately work together...it was destiny.

The place was a large school, located a train ride away from the capital. Outside the large iron gates was a plaque, no doubt with the inscriptions of the school's philosophy engraved upon it. "Mikoto School," it read, "Stick to the rules." Despite the name there were a number of fights and gangs that plagued the school. Most were interlinked with each other though the principle liked to brag that he was in charge of the best establishment in the nation.

The principle's son attended the school and naturally, was treated better than the rest. Hated by most, and feared by even more as the leader of one of the most prominent gangs that ruled the school. There were a few rival gangs and zero ally gangs. Nevertheless, the principle's son held the most esteem in the neighborhood.

However, there were ten, no, eleven students of the school who had formed their own...counter gang if you would call it. Eleven students, who were sick of it, sick of everything they had been put through. These eleven students knew each other, not as best friends, not even as allies, but maybe as people who could coexist together in the same reality and not destroy one another.

People felt bad for you if you attended Mikoto High School, not because it had a bad education system or because it was in a bad area, but simply because of the gang wars within. But no one looked down on the school. To those not directly associated with it they didn't care much, it was just another school in the world. That's why no one thought any different when the boy who lived down the street, the one they didn't know so well, decided to travel almost halfway across the county to attend that school.

When asked why he simply replied, "Because I can." And so they watched him walk away and leave his home. But he was an orphan. His parents had died soon after he was born, leaving him alone. The people of the town had felt bad for him but at the same time burdened with a child they _didn't_ want. He had grown to be a huge trouble, getting into fights with the local boys, smart mouthed and having a bad attitude. That's why no one was sad when they saw him leave; sixteen years of torture could only bring them to feel that way.

But it wasn't the boy's fault. Still he set out on his own to attend Mikoto School, to become something better and to find someone to call a friend. Little did he know the troubles he would encounter, the people he would meet or the experiences he would live through. But then again, this was destiny.

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**A/N: well, that was the prologue, it'll get more interesting later... please review!**


	2. Chapter One: Sakura's Story Pt 1

**A/N: well, this is officially chapter one of my story! it takes place one year before the events of the actual story line...anyways, disclaimer. Naruto?**

**Naruto: raindropdays does not own any of the Naruto characters or story line.**

**A/N: see Sasuke? why can't you just be helpful like that???**

**Sasuke: hmph...**

**A/N: fine...anyways, continue on! **

* * *

Sixteen year old Haruno Sakura had gotten the call from her childhood friend one week before she had made the decision.

She hastily rushed to get the phone as she entered her small apartment. "Hai, hai," she called as she pulled off her shoes and let them drop to the ground. She rushed to the phone picking it up, "Hello?"

"Sakura," she heard a familiar voice say, "It's like we haven't talked in forever..." It was her childhood friend, Yamanaka Ino. They hadn't talked in years, nearly five or six. Personal matters had made it impossible for them to meet up and slowly old friends began to forget one another.

"Ino..." said Sakura a little sadly and surprised, "How are things?" There was a pause before Ino started to talk again.

"Aren't you glad to hear from me?" she asked in a joking manner. Same old Ino...same old friend...

Sakura didn't respond. "You still there?" asked Ino after a while, all joking aside.

"Yeah..."

This time Ino didn't respond for a long time. "Sakura..." she finally said, "Are you mad about old times?"

"Old habits die hard?" asked Sakura. Ino didn't say anything. "I'm not mad," continued Sakura, "Just...just why did you call?"

"Sakura," said Ino quietly, "Come here." Confused by what her ex-best friend had just said, Sakura didn't know what to say. She merely stood there, shocked at the words Ino had just spoken. "Sakura, are you still there?"

"Ino..." said Sakura, "What are you talking about?"

"I mean exactly what I just said. You know you're not doing well where you are now. Ever since the accident, Sakura I know it must be hard for you!" Sakura cut her off.

"Ino, I appreciate the concern but I'm, doing just fine on my own."

"Sakura...at least think about what I said. We haven't talked in a while but at times like these friends need each other."

There was along pause.

"Is that all?" Sakura finally asked.

"Yeah..." replied Ino, that's all.

There was a faint click and Sakura knew what she had said to her old friend was wrong. She didn't regret it though; anything. Not anything she had done.

Sakura's parents had died a few months ago in a terrible car crash. She was abandoned but they had left her with a sustainable amount of money to live off of. Still something had changed. Something had twisted itself inside.

Sakura had no close friends. She was a lonely teenaged girl going to a demanding school, studying night and day, for long hours. Her last friend, and best friend, had been separated from her long ago, so she was left alone.

Ino had called her...Ino had offered her a way out...Ino had tried to save her; all for nothing. Sakura sat on her couch gazing at the phone. To accept or not to accept...

Sakura was enrolled in Mikoto School about a month later; finally deciding to try out the lifestyle that Ino had offered her. On her first day there, Sakura hadn't been the person who had most fit in; a sad girl, who came from a different town, not appreciated by many. Ino managed to show her around and introduced her to the different people who would eventually bond together to form the Kyuujo Michi.

When Sakura arrived in town she was greeted by Ino. Ino hadn't changed much at all. She still had long blond hair, tied back in a long pony tail with a few bangs brushed down over her face and bright aqua eyes that stared intently at her old friend. "I'm glad you decided to come," said Ino smiling faintly as Sakura got off the train. Sakura nodded in return. After gathering Sakura's bags the two started walking towards Ino's house together.

Sakura looked different since they had last seen each other, Ino had to admit. She was taller and far paler. Her once lively emerald green eyes had reverted to a dull and faded color. But she was still Sakura, with the same pink locks that reached halfway down her back and a hair band holding most of it back.

"So where do you live exactly?" asked Sakura knocking Ino out of her train of thought. She was trying to be pleasant but something about how the words had slipped out had made the phrase sound all wrong.

"Right up this hill," said Ino, pointing a little further up the dirt road they were walking on. Sakura nodded and they were launched again into an awkward silence. Ino tried to search for the words to say to Sakura but she couldn't find them. There was no need for words between the two of them and there was nothing to say.

When they reached Ino's house, Ino unlocked the door and they both walked in. It was a relatively good sized one-story house with about five rooms. There was a small kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living space obviously used for eating, studying and watching TV in. "You can have that room," Ino called as she walked into her room while at the same time pointing to the other room across the hall. Sakura nodded and entered walked into what had previously been the guest room. It was about the same size as her old bedroom, with a bed and a desk and a closet. She put her bag on the bed and sat down next to it. It was the beginning of a new life and she couldn't tell if she was happy or sad.

The next day both girls woke up early so that Ino could show Sakura around the school. She let Sakura borrow one of her uniforms and they were soon off. "Listen Sakura," said Ino as they both walked to school.

"Huh?" replied Sakura.

"About Mikoto School, well, it's not some fluff school. Just remember that, okay?" warned Ino. Sakura nodded. She had some idea of what Ino meant. Back when she had lived in Tokyo, there had been street fights all over town every other day. She had learned not to get too involved with them by avoiding them.

"I guess I'll just avoid them here too," thought Sakura as the school came into view.

"We're almost there," said Ino smiling at her friend, "Ready or not, here we go."

As the two girls walked through the halls they were met with prying eyes. They all wanted to know who new girl was and why she had come here. Ino was careful not to pay any attention to them and Sakura followed her example by staring straight ahead. Ino led Sakura to her homeroom class room, class 1-B where they were greeted by Ino's friends and classmates, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji. Shikamaru was a fair looking boy with chestnut brown hair, tied up in a pony tail. He had a calm laid-back look in his eyes, signifying that he was lazy. Choji on the other hand was a little heavier but had a kind aura.

"Hey, Ino," called Shikamaru walking over to the pair, "Who's the new girl?"

"This is Haruno Sakura," said Ino.

"Nice to meet you Haruno," said Choji. Sakura nodded in return.

"You can call me Sakura," she said. Choji smiled but Shikamaru merely scowled.

"If she's new Ino, you have to take her to see the principal." He seemed annoyed at something though Sakura couldn't tell what.

"Right," said Ino. She turned to Sakura, "Shall we enroll you then?" Sakura didn't have a chance to respond as Ino turned to leave the room. Sakura quickly ran to catch up but Ino was already out the door.

"Ino?" she called. But the hallways were much too crowded to even see your own hand in front of your face let alone see another person who happened to be walking away at a high rate of speed at that exact moment. Sakura turned to go back inside the classroom and ask either Shikamaru or Choji where the principal's office was when she ran into a boy. "Oh excuse me," she said. She looked up to see who she had run into to come eye to eye with piercing violet eyes.

"You should watch where you're going," he said to her indifferently. She nodded.

"I'm sorry. It's my first day here and I lost my friend who was showing me around," said Sakura.

"Freshman, huh?" the boy asked. He was about four inches taller than Sakura, with light purple eyes and long brown hair; though he was dressed in a different uniform signifying that he wasn't a first year, maybe a second.

"Neji!" someone called from behind him. Sakura peered behind the boy to see a girl and a boy running towards him. "There you are," called the girl, "what are you doing?"

"Nothing," replied Neji, "Just talking to a new girl." The two finally caught up with Neji. One was a girl with twin brown buns and curious brown eyes. She had been the one to call the boy Neji. The other seemed a little bit ticked, with a black bowl style haircut and determined black eyes. The girl's eyes drifted to Sakura.

"You're new here?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I'm Tenten," she said putting her hand on her chest, "this is Rock Lee," she pointed to the black haired boy, "and this is Hyuga Neji," she finished. "Do you need some help getting somewhere?"

"Where's the principal's office?" asked Sakura, glad she had run into some helpful people.

"So this is your first day?" asked Tenten. Sakura nodded. "Well, its right down this hallway," said Tenten, pointing to their left. Sakura nodded and bowed.

"Thank you very much," she said, showing respect to the upperclassman. She then turned to be on her way.

As she walked through the hallways she could hear whispering. Girls were gossiping with each other and guys were acting cool, leaning against walls with arms crossed over chests. Finally she came to the door that had principal written on it. She knocked twice before hearing someone within beckon her forward. "Yes?" someone called within, "You may enter." Sakura gingerly pushed the door open and saw the principal sitting at his desk.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Haruno Sakura," replied Sakura stepping closer to the desk but at the same time keeping her distance.

"Ahh, the new transfer student," said the principal, through realization. "Welcome to Mikoto High School. We are very happy to have a bright mind like yours at our establishment." Sakura was not easily flattered by his words and merely nodded. The principal continued, "Now, let me tell you of our amazing school. Despite its many achievements I must warn you now; we do have a number of problems including gang fights. If you should ever find yourself knowing someone who has either started a fight or been involved in one for reasons other than self-defense I must ask you to alert me or the staff immediately." Sakura nodded.

"Immediately..." he repeated. "Here at Mikoto High School life isn't just a game and we wish for our students to take it one hundred percent seriously." He leaned over the desk and picked up a ruler. He began to lightly tap it on the desk as Sakura watched curiously. He raised the ruler up and slapped it down earning a loud 'tak' sound. "Or else."

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**A/N: well that ends chapter one! i hope it was better than the stupid prologue...cough cough... oh! and a note: Kyuujo Michi means litterally 'rescue path' so thats just so you know. anyways, see you in chapter two!! **


	3. Chapter Two: Sakura's Story Pt 2

**A/N: well, here we are with chapter two!! yay! this I think, may be the last part of the introduction but there might be one more chapter after this too...hmm, maybe not. Anyways, hope you enjoy. oh yeah... Naruto, disclaimer.**

**Naruto: raindropdays does not own any of the naruto stuff or characters or story line.**

**A/N: thank you! you're so helpful!! unlike SASUKE!!**

**Sasuke: oh shut up...**

**A/N: fine! I WILL!**

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The rest of the conversation slithered past uneventfully as the principal bragged about himself and about his son who was apparently also a first year at the school, and in class 1-C. "Well, enough of my talk," he finally said, "Now for your class. We have an opening in class 1-B." Sakura was a little bit glad to find out she would be in class with her friend but didn't show it. "That will be all Miss Haruno," you are dismissed. Sakura got to her feet, grateful that the principal's long tyrant of speaking was over. She had only gotten three things out of his entire forty-five minute speech: his name was Principal Kaze, his son was named Tezuka and was the most 'brilliant' mind in the school, and he was on a mission to catch gangs. It had been a complete waste of time.

She walked down the hall, staring at the cold unforgiving lockers. "How did I get myself into this mess?" she wondered. As she walked a memory from her childhood slipped into her mind. A little girl with light pink hair was playing at a playground while her two parents watched over her. She fell down and scraped her knee on the gravel and began to cry but her parents comforted her. But the girl was crying for another reason, something besides scraping her knee. But the parents understood that too...

As Sakura made her way back to her classroom she ran into a small group of kids. There were three of them, all guys, dressed against the dress code with rolled up sleeves and black jackets. "Well, what do we have here?" asked one of the boys, "Little lamb out her safe classroom at a time like this? Shame on you..." Sakura continued walking as of she hadn't heard a thing. Seeing her arrogant attitude, one of the guys became mad.

"When he talks to you, you respond back, wench!" he said leaping onto her and knocking her up against the wall. "Got it?" he asked grabbing her collar and lifting it up. He stared at her as she averted her eyes from his. "You know you remind me of someone," he smirked, "Someone whom I've always had a personal grudge against."

"Hey Kamiya," came a voice. A guy had just appeared in the hallway. "Leave her alone," he said coolly.

"Inuzuka," said the guy called Kamiya under his breath. He slowly released Sakura and she scrambled away, "This you're new wench of the week?" Inuzuka merely shook his head.

"Let her go unless you want to fight," Inuzuka replied coolly.

"I don't think you have the guts to," replied Kamiya, "Aren't you too 'well-behaved' for that?" He accented the last word, mocking Inuzuka.

"Well, Tora's not here today so I don't know what makes you think you can boast," replied Inuzuka coolly. Kamiya seemed startled for a moment before turning, angrily to leave.

"Wait, boss, the girl," stuttered one of the other boys who had merely watched as the two boys had gone at it.

"Shut up Meio," replied Kamiya harshly, "Are you a complete idiot?" He then turned back to face Inuzuka. "We're going for now. But remember Tora won't always be gone." The two other boys, at first, didn't know what to do but they quickly followed their ticked off leader back into the shadows of Mikoto School.

"You okay?" called Inuzuka to Sakura. She nodded back.

"Kiba-kun," called a girl as she rounded the corner. She had long dark bluish black hair and pale blue eyes. "Are you okay?" she called running towards him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said jamming his hands into his pockets. The girl ran to his side to make sure for herself that she was okay.

"You shouldn't get into fights like that," she said kindly. Kiba merely scowled. "I couldn't just let them get off. Plus, I wasn't actually going to fight them," he assured the girl. "Anyways," he called, turning his attention to Sakura, "You new here?"

"Yeah," replied Sakura, "Thanks."

"Well be careful, don't tick off one of the gang members, around here you might lose more than just your life."

Sakura nodded. Kiba and the girl turned to go but Sakura stopped them. "Wait," she called.

"Hn?" asked Kiba turning to face her, "what?"

"Who were those guys?" asked Sakura.

"Wow, you really are new here aren't you?" asked Kiba massaging his temples. "The guy you ran into was Kamiya, one of Tora's subordinates and most faithful lackeys."

"Tora?" questioned Sakura.

"Yeah, the most famous gang member around here, heard of him?" Kiba asked. Sakura nodded a little bit sad.

"Yeah, something like that..."

Kiba shrugged and turned to leave. "Come on Hinata." However, the girl whom Sakura assumed was Hinata, did not budge.

"Kiba, we should show her back to her classroom," said Hinata. Kiba sighed, a little bit annoyed.

"Fine, we get to be your guard for one day. Come on," he called. Sakura walked towards them. "So what's your class?"

"Um, 1-B," said Sakura as they walked through the long halls.

"Heh, right next to ours," muttered Kiba under his breath.

"Where's your room?" asked Sakura.

"We're in class 1-C under the instruction of Yuhi Kurenai," said Hinata quietly. It had been the first time she had responded to Sakura since their meeting with eachother. She seemed to be very quiet and self-spoken. Sakura nodded and before they knew it they were there.

"Here's your stop princess," said Kiba showing her the room with a sign dictating 1-B outside of it. Sakura thanked the pair of them and entered the room.

"And who do we have here?" asked the teacher.

"Haruno Sakura," replied Sakura, "I'm new here."

The teacher beckoned for her to come forward. "Very well," he said as he showed her to a seat near where Ino was sitting. "I'm Sarutobi Asuma, welcome to Mikoto High." As Asuma went back to his lecturing Ino turned to Sakura.

"Where did you go earlier?" she hissed.

"Sorry," muttered Sakura.

"You have to stick with me Sakura, otherwise who knows what could happen to you. Here at Mikoto School...well, let's just say it's not the most friendly environment around here."

The pair of girls returned to listening to Asuma after Sakura gave a brief over view of what had happened to her after the two had been separated. After class Ino informed Sakura more in depth of who each of the people Sakura had met actually were; first, Hyuga Neji, Tenten and Rock Lee. Ino explained that they were a class older than the others but not in any greater position as it went with the gang hierarchy. Neji was pragmatic, clever, often sarcastic and level headed. Lee on the other hand was almost the complete opposite, with a smooth 'never-give-up' attitude and a dream to excel; he often got into fights, protecting the third member of their group Tenten.

Ino went on to explain Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuga Hinata as well.

"They're brother and sister?" asked Sakura amazed referring to Hinata and Neji after she heard Ino say Hinata's last name.

"No they're cousins," said Ino clearing up the matter. She went on to explain that Kiba was loud, out spoken and rash and that he normally had to be soothed down by his good friend Shino, a quiet, clever loyal boy; shy and timid Hinata, helped to keep the balance between the three of them. When Sakura asked where Shino was Ino simply replied that he had been in and out of class lately for unknown reasons.

Finally all classes were over and Sakura's first day at Mikoto High School was completed. Sakura was preparing to go home when Ino suddenly ran into the classroom. "Sakura!" she called. "I have to stay after class today so I can't walk home with you. Will you be okay?"

"Sure," said Sakura, "I'll be fine." Ino smiled.

"Thanks Sakura," said Ino as she ran out waving to Sakura as she went. Sakura quietly gathered up her books into her bag and began to leave. As she rounded the corner she encountered another act of gang violence. "Oh great..." she thought when she saw what was going on, "I have a feeling that this is going to happen to me a lot while I stay here..." Kamiya was standing there holding another girl by her wrists. "What was with this guy? Couldn't he just get a girlfriend with out having to beat her up?" Sakura started towards the two of them, she knew she had to do something, something to stop Kamiya.

"Let me go!" the girl said, struggling to get free, "Let me go!"

"Shut up!" said Kamiya angrily, "Just shut up!"

"Hey!" Sakura began to shout as she ran closer but someone beat her there. A few feet away from her stood a raven haired boy. He had cold black onyx eyes and cool figure.

"Let her go," he said. Kamiya released the girl as she rushed away from him.

"I'm just not having a good day today," said Kamiya, annoyed, "First Inuzuka than you—"

"Don't loop me into the same hole as him," the boy said coolly.

"You know you're no different."

The boy merely scoffed.

"Hm, at least I'm not completely spineless," he smirked.

Kamiya turned to him enraged. "Watch yourself Uchiha!" he warned angrily. Suddenly his eyes fell upon Sakura.

"Hm?" he inquired, "Well, what do you know, it's my wench from this morning."

"I'm not your wench!" retorted Sakura. Kamiya raised an eyebrow, taking a step closer to her. Only once before had a girl talked to him in such a fiery attitude but that was a long time ago.

"Hey," said the one called Uchiha stoically. He stepped in front of Kamiya, hands in his pocket and a laid back look on his face.

"What's this?" asked Kamiya, "Protecting the girl?" Uchiha didn't answer. He merely stood there producing an aura of offensive anger. Kamiya took a step forward but Uchiha stopped him, grabbing his wrist and holding it.

"Go away," he said, "Save yourself the fight."

"Threatening me? This girl must be special."

"Hn."

Nevertheless, Kamiya took a step backwards, then turned on his heel and walked away. The boy called Uchiha began to walk away but Sakura stopped him.

"Um," she started. The boy suddenly stopped.

"If you're going to thank me," he said coolly, "Or something of that nature, forget it." He began walking again.

"Wait!" called Sakura, "what's your name?"

"That's none of your business," he said and continued walking.

"But—"

The boy stopped and turned, "You know you really are annoying..." He then turned again and left her, standing in the middle of the hallway, completely startled.

Sakura only learned later who the boy was whom she had met that day. His name was respected and at the same time looked down on by all. He didn't say much to anyone, merely attended school, then went home. He found no joy or interest in any of his fellow classmates and fought simply to keep idiotic gang members away from himself. Believing to be a cut above the rest he never associated with anyone else nor took a side. He was...different, in every way possible and he didn't care. His name was Uchiha Sasuke and Sakura was determined to talk to him again.

There was a cherry blossom tree, outside of the school; one with bright pink petals that rode the soft wind in summer. It had been planted a few years back and was already blossoming. That was the first thing he saw...on the day that changed everything.

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**Sasuke: woah she's not talking...I actually got her to shut up! ...amazing...**

**A/N: . . . . OH WAIT! I remember something I have to say!**

**Sasuke: shoot...**

**A/N: translation! Tora means tiger in Japanese! okay, thats all. see you in chap 3!!**


	4. Chapter Three: Arrival Story

**A/N: well, i've been a bad person and haven't updated in forever...it makes me sad...but be happy!! cause here is chapter 3!! (lets hope i have the endurance to actually finish this thing!! yeah!) okay, well anyways, on with the story. quick! naruto disclaimer!!**

**Naruto: why did you make me such a jerk in this chapter??**

**A/N: that is not a disclaimer...**

**Naruto: ...**

**A/N: -sigh- because, thats what the fans wanted!! i must please the fans!!**

**Sasuke: what fans? there's no one here...**

**A/N: okay, you know what, stop talking. just disclaim.**

**Sasuke: is that even correct grammer?**

**A/N: ...**

**Sasuke: fine i'll disclaim because Naruto is having a mental breakdown about his screen time and stuff. **

**A/N: see? sasuke's not in this chapter so he had to disclaim to make himself seem impotant...what a conceited loser.**

**Sasuke: eh hem...raindropdays doesn't own naruto or any of the characters/plot...thankfully...god only knows what she would do to us if she did own us... **

**A/N: -throws coffee pot at Sasuke-**

**Sasuke: -hit-**

**A/N: bulls-eye! now, on with the story...**

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The first thing he saw when he arrived in the town was a tree. It had light pink petals that were slowly falling. "Hm," he thought, "Interesting." He walked up to the gates; iron covered, and stared at the ivory building just beyond them. "Looks like this is my stop," he said to himself. He glanced over at the metal plated sign on the right side of the gate. "Mikoto High School," he read, "Definitely my stop!" He tried to push the gate open but it didn't budge. After trying yet again and getting the same result he decided to do the only other thing he could in a time like this. He carelessly threw his bag over the fence and then prepared to follow it. It only took a few steps and a carefully calculated jump to hop the fence. Within seconds he had landed on the other side in perfect condition. "Well," he said, picking up his bag, "that was easy." He brushed off his hands and began to make his way to the building.

"Hey!" he heard someone call after him. The blond turned his head, while still acting completely carefree, to find a girl. "You're not allowed in here!" she called.

"Eh? Who says?" he asked.

"You're uniform. It's not from around here! Only students are allowed on school grounds!" She called. The blond let out a small laugh and stepped closer to her. She took a step backwards away from him, a little bit scared.

"Oi, you scared of me?" he asked. She shook her head quickly but there was a look of fear in her eyes.

"Get out of here before I call security!" she said, determined. The blond merely shrugged and turned back towards the school. "Hey!" she called again. The blond merely sighed

"You know I used to know a lot of girls like you back in the day...but back then they all admired me. You should know to respect your seniors." He began to walk towards the building again leaving the girl stunned.

As the blond made his way up the stairs he finally came upon his desired destination; none other than the principal's office. He stood outside the door for a moment before finally deciding to go in. "Hey, principal, what's up?" he called as he pushed the door open without knocking. The principal stared at the boy for a moment before realizing that he had just barged in. Regaining himself from shock he stood up hastily.

"What are you doing here? Who are you?" he demanded.

"Geez, this place sure has a lot of people who ask a lot of stupid questions," said the boy nonchalantly, as he took a seat in the chair facing the desk. He leaned back, completely carefree.

"I'll ask you one more time, and you better give me a decent answer," warned the principal. The boy raised on eyebrow. "Now," said the principal, taking a deep breath, "Just who are you?"

"I am..." said the boy, seriously, leaning forward. The principal waited patiently as the boy took a deep breath. "I am...me." The boy smirked at the principal as he leaned back again.

"That's it young man, tell me or I'll call the police on you!" Principal Kaze threatened but the boy _knew_ that they were empty threats. He merely smirked at the principal. "If you don't straighten your attitude out young man I'll call the officer from the next street over and he'll beat some discipline into you!" Kaze continued shouting.

"The name's Uzumaki," the boy finally said when he was satisfied with the anger he had caused. "Memorize it. Anyways, I'm here to attend school so what class you got for me?" The principal opened and closed his mouth silently, no words to say. Finally, he regained himself and sat down across from Uzumaki at his seat.

He had heard the name all too well. Everyone had...well everyone with a gang problem on their hands. He was known as a boy from a run down village who liked to cause trouble. However, unlike the _normal_ gang members, he was a loner. His foster family had apparently kicked him out of his house about a year back and with no friends, and no one to call family he had been wandering Japan in search of a place to wreak havoc. Of course, Kaze only knew this because of his 'need-to-know' about gang leaders and members and this Uzumaki kid was the top at the top of the list, page one of the bingo book.

"Uzumaki, eh?" Kaze finally said. Uzumaki proudly nodded. "Well, I'm sorry but we don't seem to have a place for you at this school."

"Well," said Uzumaki standing up. Kaze was hopeful that he was going to leave but he was all too wrong. Quicker than a flash of lightning, Uzumaki had pulled out a pocket knife. He flipped it open and began to toss it up and down in a carefree manner. "That's really too bad."

Kaze stood up quickly. "If you even think attacking me!" he shouted, unable to finish his threat. Uzumaki merely smiled.

"How low do you think I am?" he asked. Kaze didn't believe what he was hearing.

"So what's the meaning of all this!?" he demanded. Uzumaki caught the knife, commanding it to be still in the palm of his hand.

He turned to the principal, "You tell me."

Kaze finally did allow Uzumaki to attend Mikoto School. He gave him the same speech that he had given Sakura on the first day she had come there but Uzumaki was a bit more, lets just say, opinionated than she had been. When Kaze finally brought up his policy about zero tolerance fighting Uzumaki let out a groan. Kaze looked up at him. This had been just what he was afraid of. But Uzumaki was silent after that, allowing Kaze to continue on. "Any questions?" he asked as he finally completed his speech. Uzumaki sat still for a moment before deciding on one to ask.

"So who is this Tezuka guy again?" asked Uzumaki. Kaze threw Uzumaki a dangerous look.

"Don't insult my son," he said strictly. Uzumaki seemed to be amused by this and merely put up his hands in protest.

"Got it, got it." Kaze wasn't completely convinced though. Nevertheless, he continued on.

"You're room is 2-B," he said, "Now go." Uzumaki didn't need telling twice. He wanted to get out of the stupidly small office and away from the stupid man, Kaze. Not only was he a complete conceited jerk but he was a coward too. It disgusted him to even associate with someone like that.

As he walked through the halls he encountered a strange sight. Two people were fighting. Calling each other bad names and standing at opposite ends of a dark hall. It seemed to be a girl and guy. She was calling him names for cheating on her, he was yelling at her for not 'understanding' him. "Trash..." he muttered under his breath as he turned the corner, "Complete trash..." He kept walking without looking back.

_SLAP!_

He kept walking without turning back. This was someplace that didn't his interference.

_SLAP!_

It wasn't his place.

_SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!_

"Listen to me wench! When you agreed to be my girlfriend you agreed to make me happy! As if I give a damn what happens to you!" the boy shouted. He was standing over the girl, angrily, holding his hand up ready to slap her again.

"I thought you cared!" she shouted back. He let out an insane laugh.

"I thought you weren't stupid!" he shouted as he began to swing his hand again. However, just as his hand was about to make contact with the girl again someone caught it. "What the--?" he asked as he turned to come face to face with an enraged blond.

"Answer me something," said the blond in a low voice.

"I'm not answering you anything!" shouted the boy, "Get your hands off of me!"

Uzumaki let out a small laugh, "It wasn't optional!" He hoisted the boy over his shoulder by his wrist causing him to smash into some desks in the corner. "Why the hell are you beating up your girlfriend?" shouted Uzumaki angrily.

The boy jumped to his feet angrily as blood trickled down his face. "I ought to..." He ran at Uzumaki about to punch him but Uzumaki dodged him lightly and turned his own attack on him causing him to smash into the wall. Uzumaki shook his head.

"Don't you know?" he asked, "Good guys always win." The boy looked up at him sourly and then smirked.

"You want the wench so badly take her," he spat, "She's good for nothing anyways." He then turned on his heel and left. Uzumaki turned back to the girl who was still sitting on the floor.

"You okay?" he asked. She wiped some tears off her face.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

"Who was that guy?" Uzumaki finally asked.

"My old boyfriend," she finally stuttered, "Kamiya." Uzumaki let out a sigh.

"And your name?" he asked.

"Tsukiyo Miso..." she said as she continued wiping away the tears.

"Stop crying," Uzumaki commanded. Miso looked up startled.

"W-what?" she asked.

"I said stop crying," he repeated.

"But I just—"

"Stop...it doesn't matter anymore. Don't cry over trash like that." Miso continued staring at him, completely startled. This boy, this boy whom she had never seen before, had come and...and saved her and now he was telling her to forget her boyfriend, calling him trash. Who did he think he was? Confusion, anger and anxiety ran through her heart all at once. People didn't act like that anymore. Finally, she smiled at him. Uzumaki looked at her confused.

"Thank you," she said again. She got to her feet slowly. "Who are you?"

"Uzumaki," he replied. Miso nodded. "Are you new here?" This time it was his turn to nod.

"Yup!"

"Do you want me show you to your class?" After getting a yes from Uzumaki and the location the two set off. "I'm in class 2-C" explained Miso, "So we won't see each other around..." They turned a corner and she stopped. "Here's the room."

"Thanks for showing it to me." Miso merely smiled as he entered through the door and onto the other side.

Sakura was the first one to notice him as he came inside. She had been daydreaming about old times and answers to questions that started with 'what if'. But then he had walked in. There had been no knock, no pause, just a boy with blond hair and a cocky smile barging into the room. She couldn't help but stare as he walked across the front of the room. She turned to the others and they each had similar expressions on their faces. Kiba had seemed to be almost sleeping along with Shikamaru just a moment ago but now they seemed to be intrigued.

Uzumaki walked across the front of the room and stood in the middle. "Hey teach," he called to the teacher. The man with the silver hair and calm attitude replied.

"And who do we owe this lovely visit to?" he asked.

"Your new student," he replied, "Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

Miso was walking down the halls on her way. She didn't know where to or why she hadn't gone back to class. Despite what Uzumaki had said she couldn't stop crying over what Kamiya had said...what he had done. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" she heard a man say from behind her. She turned around quickly as she saw a pair of hands reaching towards her.

"No!" she shouted as she began to run but she was stopped by dark figures standing in her way. She spun around trying to find a way out only to encounter more dark shapes.

"You talked to the Uzumaki kid, didn't you?" said the man who had spoken before. She didn't answer. "Heh heh," he laughed evilly, "You're right. No need to respond. We already know...we know everything."

"Now," came a raspy voice from one of the dark figures that stood behind her, "You're going to do as we say and help us." She heard the switch of pocket knife's blade. "Or else."

* * *

**Sasuke: -still knocked out-**

**A/N: ha ha, that'll teach ya to insult me...anyways, ****you know I'm quite fond of my OCs Kamiya and Miso...they're going to become a pain in the future but I still love them. Anyways, I promise more interaction with the whole Naruto cast next time!! Also, before I forget Miso means smile in Korean! and that translation just makes EVERYTHING ironic...Kay, kay bye!**

**Sasuke: -coming to- mommy i like pink unicorns**

**A/N: oooookay then...**


	5. Chapter Four: Challenge Story

**A/N: alright, so here I am updating after months and MONTHS! so sorry about that...I was on hiatus..but now I'm back and ready to write, so, to save myself the headache of these stuck up Naruto characters I will disclaim for myself!**

**Itachi: is that a wor--**

**A/N: would you get out of here?! Anyway: raindropdays does not own Naruto or any of the characters. She does own her own character: Miso Tsukiyo though. alright, now on with the story and once again sorry for the long wait!! it'll be worth it! i promise!**

* * *

"Well..." said Kakashi as he continued to stare at his new pupil. He placed his hand on his forehead wondering desperately what he had ever done to Kaze to deserve this. He slid his hand down to his mouth and continued to stare at the new boy: Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto looked around the class intrigued for a short minute before his eyes fell on the girl whom had him noticed first. She was staring at him with bright emerald green eyes that were full of intrigue, curiosity...and something else. Something he just couldn't put his finger on...but that was alright. It didn't matter. He continued to stare at her for one more moment, a mere second, before he strode up the aisle to talk to her. He leaned over her chair carefully placing his elbow on the spot where her hands had just been, crossed on her desk.

"Hey..." he said in a deep voice, "What's your name?" She stared back at him, one hundred percent surprised.

"What is he doing?!" she screamed in her head, "And who does he think he is!?" Across the aisle, Ino was leaning over to Shikamaru and whispering furiously. Shikamaru, who was _never _interested in Ino's crazy gossip, seemed slightly intrigued this time as Ino babbled on.

Naruto waited a full...two seconds, before he went on. He was completely convinced that she was caught up in his completely suave appearance and was too amazed to speak, so he went on. "Listen..." he continued in the same deep voice, "Maybe, you and I could go out sometime." She continued to merely stared at him wide eyed, still too shocked to say anything. Naruto soon realized that she wouldn't be _interacting _anytime soon so decided just to make a move; after all, Uzumaki Naruto always got his way. He stared into her eyes for a moment more and then leaned in to kiss her. He almost made it too but...

"Oh my gosh!" she heard her best friend squeal from two seats in front of her and the next thing she new, she had awakened from her shock.

She stood up from her seat so fast that it tipped the chair over and hit Naruto in a very uncomfortable place. "Kakashi-sensei!" she shouted angrily, "Are you just going to stand there and let him _abuse _me like this?!" She pointed to Naruto who had been knocked backwards by the very violent and painful chair. Her emerald eyes flashed angrily at him and then back to Kakashi who was sitting on his desk watching her and speculating. He took a minute before responding, choosing his words carefully.

"Well actually Miss Haruno..." he said slowly, "I found it quite...amusing."

Naruto smirked and got to his feet. "Heh heh, you're feisty," he remarked quietly to her, "Not to worry though, those are the best kinds." Sakura glared at him coldly before turning her back to him and sitting down at her seat angrily.

She repeated her earlier thought again as she took out a pen and stabbed her desk furiously, "Who did he think he was?!"

"Alright," said Kakashi hopping off his desk aloofly, "Mr. Uzumaki please take the empty seat in the third row and we'll continue our studies." Naruto gave a short, arrogant nod and then marched off to his seat. He sat down haughtily placing his hands on the back of his head and leaning back. This was going to be a very _interesting year_...

* * *

"Ooh! Sakura, I'm sooooo jealous!!" exclaimed Ino to her best friend. Class had just ended and they were on their lunch break. Even though it had been a grand total of four hours, Ino, and the rest of the class, could not stop talking about the amazing arrival of Uzumaki Naruto.

"Did you see him earlier?"

"Really dreamy..."

"He was sort of cockey..."

"Kind of reminds me of..."

Sakura slammed her hand against a wall. "I hate it," she said angrily. Ino cocked her head to the side.

"You're worked up over nothing," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "A cute guy just asked you out and _this _is how you react? No wonder Uchiha never asked you out..." Sakura shot her friend a dangerous look meant to kill. Ino caught the glare and defensively put her hands up in front of her.

"Eh heh heh heh, I was just kidding!" she said innocently, "But all joking aside, seriously Sakura, what's bugging you so much?"

"Who does he think he is?!" Sakura exclaimed.

Ino shook her head. "He obviously thinks he is someone very cool and I really don't blame him..." Ino trailed off before she looked back at Sakura. She quickly regretted opening her mouth yet again, but Sakura merely crossed her arms over her chest and sighed.

"He is way too cocky for his own good," she stated and Ino only laughed. All guys were some what cocky...plus Sakura had seemed to like cocky a few days earlier.

"Anyway, you can't blame Uzumaki when everyone acts like that..." she said leaning on the windowsill and staring out at the white clouds dreamily.

"I'm sorry, did you say Uzumaki?" came a small voice from behind Ino and Sakura. Ino turned around to come face to face with Miso.

"I did," she said, her eyes narrowing, "why are you asking?"

"Uh, no reason," said Miso quickly putting her hands up in front of her face, "I was just uh, are you in his class?" She stared at Ino with inquisitive eyes and Ino slowly nodded.

"Yeah, he just transferred in this morning." Miso seemed to be registering what Ino had just said for a moment before speaking again.

"Do you know where he is right now?" she asked.

Ino shook her head. "He took off as soon as the lunch bell sounded." Miso let out a small sigh and then turned away from Ino.

"Thanks," she called over her shoulder and continued walking down the hall. As soon as she was gone, Sakura spoke up.

"What was that about?" she asked quietly, "What would Kamiya's ex want with Uzumaki?" Ino shrugged.

"I don't know...but it can't be very good..."

* * *

The thugs were there when Miso rounded the corner. There were five of them and they were each staring at her with their small eyes fastened on her every step. "Well, did you find him?" asked the largest one, stepping in front of her and preventing her from continuing on. She looked up at him glaringly.

"If I found him, he would have been here by now, wouldn't he?" she spat at him angrily.

"Ooh Boss, I think she just showed you an attitude," said one of the thugs closest to the Boss and Miso. The one called the boss looked at Miso and smirked.

"You're not Kamiya's girl any more," he said slowly, "We all heard about it so you have no place or position to shoot your mouth off like that." Miso silently glared at him and then turned on your heel and crossed her arms.

"Well then, let me make this perfectly clear and courteous," said Miso, not the least bit courteous or kinder in her tone, "I could not find him, there."

The Boss turned to the rest of his gang. They were each staring at him with hungry eyes, they wanted to hurt somebody and if finding Uzumaki was a problem, they may just have to settle for the next best thing; and it was standing right in front of them with a skirt and angry, impossible green eyes. The Boss seemed to know exactly what they were thinking as soon as they saw him. He turned back to Miso, grabbing her around the waist. "You get yourself into so much trouble like this..." he whispered into her ear, "But remember our deal, okay sweet?" She listened patiently up to his last word before pushing him away.

"I wont forget," she called over her shoulder as she headed past him and to her class.

"You better not," the Boss muttered after she was gone. He turned back to his gang, "We're going to make Uzumaki pay, aren't we?" They all laughed together. Miso leaned against the wall a little further down the hall and sighed. What was she going to do?

* * *

_"Absolutely no fighting will be tolerated at my school!"_

The old man's words echoed in Naruto's mind on repeat as he sat on the roof, staring up at the sky. Without fighting there really was no point in life...without the ability to show that you were better...what was the point? Why was he even at this school in the first place? But he smiled a moment later. It was fun to break the rules though.

_Ding! Ding! Ding!_

The class bell was ringing. He got to his feet and stretched out, yawning. Sitting on top of roofs being lazy was definitely his favorite thing to do next to fighting. He jammed his hands into his pockets and begin to head down the stairs. He walked nonchalantly, taking his time. He was in absolutely no hurry to get to class even though the bell had rung about two minutes earlier. As he walked, he caught the fleeting shadow of someone else, but when he rounded the corner they were already gone. He was wondering who had just been there a minute earlier when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around quickly, ready to fight only to see Miso.

"Hello," she said happily. He stared at her for a full minute before responding.

"Oi, Tsukiyo, what are you doing out of class?"

"What are _you _doing out of class?" she replied, turning the tables on him. He merely scoffed and continued walking.

"Its what a guy like me does..." he said. Miso took a few long strides to catch up with him and then walked next to him, "So...what are you doing out of class?"

"I was looking for you," she replied quietly. He glanced over at her.

"Looking for me?" he asked.

"Yes, there is something I want to tell you." Naruto stopped walking to look at her.

"What?"

"There's someone..." said Miso slowly, "Someone...who wants to fight you."

* * *

**A/N: when _isn't _there someone who wants to fight Naruto? honestly?**

**Itachi: Naruto isn't even a really good fighter...**

**A/N: do you mind Itachi? No dissing my focus in their own story. So anyway, I think that Sakura was annoying in this chapter...and so was Miso. Nothing against them but...anyway! I'll see you in chapter 5 which will be out sooner!! Promise!! Much love, bye!**


	6. Chapter Five: Class Story

**A/N: alright! so here's chapter 5!! I told you I'd update fast and here it is!! Anyway, picking up where we left off...let the story begin! **

**Itachi: raindropdays does not own Naruto, the characters, or the plot. She does own her own character Miso.**

**A/N: I didn't even have to ask...it makes me proud...**

* * *

"And so if you will all turn the page in your history books, you will be able to see a detailed picture of the battle

"And so if you will all turn the page in your history books, you will be able to see a detailed picture of the battle..." instructed Kakashi. He leaned against his desk and glanced over his book towards his class. 26-26-28... There was one person missing. He frowned. "Let's see," he thought to himself, "Who would be missing after a long lunch break?" After a moment his thoughts were answered.

"Where's Uzumaki?" whispered Ino to Sakura. She was leaning over at least 3 desks to talk to her friend. Sakura merely swatted her away, still angry from earlier events.

"Oh, so it's Uzumaki who's missing," said Kakashi as he suddenly appeared behind the two girls.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Ino cried as she fell out of her chair, completely caught off guard by his sudden appearance.

"Yes?" replied Kakashi nonchalantly.

"You're such a bother..." said Shikamaru under his breath as he watched Ino fall out of her chair.

"What did you say Shikamaru?!" shouted Ino angrily as she leapt back to her feet. He merely sighed and shrugged as he turned away from Ino. Kakashi followed suit. But then again, it was just another normal day in Hatake's class.

"Alright, alright, enough of that," he said, resuming his spot back in the front of the class, "Miss Yamanaka, please, take your seat and stop trying to strangle Mr. Nara." Ino abruptly let go of Shikamaru's neck and took her seat back in the back of the room. "Now..." said Kakashi, once he was sure Ino was seated and wouldn't be jumping up any time soon, "Does anyone know where Mr. Uzumaki is this afternoon?" There was silence. Everyone simply stared at each other. Not one person in the room seemed to know where the annoying blond had gone off to. Kakashi let out yet another sigh. The boy had been in class for a total of four hours, and he was already missing. Kakashi took one more look around the room before turning his back to the class and picking up a piece of shock. "Alright then, since no one seems to know where Mr. Uzumaki is, we might as well get down to buis--"

The door to the classroom suddenly banged open. Kakashi, followed by the rest of the class, turned to see who and/or what had suddenly opened the door so quickly, and who did they see but none other than...

Naruto Uzumaki stood in the doorway of the classroom with a cocky smirk painted on his face. He turned to Kakashi, gave a short nod and than proceeded to his seat. Kakashi was about to scold him for being late but decided not to when Uzumaki quietly took his seat. After all, he was here now, wasn't he? Kakashi returned to the board and continued writing trying to ignore the fast and furious whispering that now filled his quiet room. Did Uzumaki bring this sort of excitement everywhere he went...or was this just a special occasion?

Naruto heard the others talking about him almost immediately. He smugly kicked his feet up on top of his desk and scanned the room. Just about everyone was whispering to each other loudly, glancing back at him, pointing, and then returning back to their conversations. He smiled a cocky smile. He had to admit he was having quite a lot of fun at this new school and he was going to have even more fun this afternoon. He closed his eyes and remembered the conversation with Miso from earlier.

* * *

"There's someone..." said Miso slowly, "Someone...who wants to fight you."

"To fight me?" replied Naruto startled.

Miso nodded. "Yes, a gang leader by the name of Fuku. I'm not sure why he does but..." Miso shook her head. "It's dangerous." Naruto seemed to be shaking now. Miso put her hand on his shoulder in order to comfort him. "Listen..." she started, "I--" But he cut her off.

"I'm so happy," he said, still shaking. Miso was taken back.

"Happy?" she repeated surprised. She took her hand off of his shoulder, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," said Naruto turning to Miso and looking her square in the eye, "I'm just so happy that there are actual challenges at this school. I can't wait to fight them, who ever they are." Naruto punched his left hand with his right and looked up determinedly, "This Fuku, or whatever his name is, he's going down." Miso glanced down nervously.

"Yeah..." she said weakly, "They're going down." Naruto gave her a confident nod.

"Thanks for the message," he said, still happy. But suddenly, his smile disappeared. "Wait a minute..." Miso looked up nervously.

"Yes?" she asked, nervous.

"Why did they ask you to give me this message?" asked Naruto. He grabbed her by the arms and shook her back and forth, slightly. "You're not in trouble again are you?" he asked. His eyes were brimming with sincerity and Miso had to look away to avoid the truth.

"...No," she finally said, "They just saw I was around with you a lot and they thought it would be good if I were the one to tell you. But they didn't threaten me...believe me, I'm fine." Naruto's hands relaxed but his gave remained hard and sincere.

"Alright..." he said. Then his smile lightened. "Oh well, it doesn't matter, I'm going to beat these guys senseless anyway so there really is nothing to worry about." Miso continued to stare at the ground.

"Yes..." she said, more to herself than to Naruto, "There is nothing to worry about..."

"Eh?" Naruto noticed, Miso's crestfallen mood and turned to face her, "What's the matter?"

"Uh, nothing, nothing!" said Miso, 'cheering' up, "Now, we should be getting to class!"

"Oh yeah that," snorted Naruto. Miso smiled a little bit as she led the way back to the classrooms. They didn't notice the person in the shadows.

* * *

"Uzumaki!"

Naruto heard his name being called and immediately returned to the present. Right. He was in History class. He looked up to see who was calling his name. It was Kakashi. "Yeah?" he replied as cocky as ever.

"Thank you for joining us," said Kakashi, "It only took me calling your name five times." Naruto gave Kakashi a look like a little kid being chastised. "So, will you please read section four, for us?" Naruto grudgingly picked up his book and stood up, flipping through the many pages, looking for the correct chapter. As he flipped frantically he saw a certain strawberry headed girl roll her eyes just two rows in front of him. He smiled his usual arrogant smile.

"She likes me..." he thought and continued flipping.

* * *

Class finally ended. It seemed like forever, to everyone, especially to Naruto, who, somewhere between section five and section eight, had fallen asleep.

"Just look at him," said Sakura with a look of disgust on her face as she packed up her books, "It's disgusting." Ino strode over to her best friend's desk with Shikamaru towing behind her.

"He's a complete pain," added Shikamaru, "Coming into class late like that and then thinking he's so cool."

"I think he's cool," said Ino. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"You think every guy at this school is cool."

Ino didn't respond and instead turned to Sakura. "Listen Sakura, if you hate him so much than stop paying so much attention to him." Sakura shot her friend another angry look and Ino backed away slowly.

"I am not paying any attention to him at all," she said stubbornly, and with that picked up her bag and marched out of the room.

"Geez, what's up with her?" asked Ino. When she didn't get an answer, she turned to face Shikamaru. He seemed to be humming to himself. "What are you doing?" she asked him skeptically.

"I'm trying to ignore you," he replied, "Its not working." Ino shook her head.

"Is it my fault that I find it my business to talk about the new student?" asked Ino, waving her hand impatiently.

"You make everything your business," said Kiba as he walked up to Shikamaru and Ino with Hinata behind.

"So I'm a busy girl, do you have a problem with that?" asked Ino leaning over the desk. Kiba sighed.

"Always to loud, how do you survive Shikamaru?" he asked. Ino shot him a dangerous, angry look.

"Do you want to say that again?" she asked as she tried to get to Kiba. Shikamaru held her back.

"Hey, woah there, come on Ino, calm down!" he said as he held her back from killing Kiba. Kiba laughed.

"Anyway," he said, "Changing the subject, that damn Uzumaki is getting on my nerves!" Ino stopped struggling and Shikamaru let go. "He thinks he's so much better than the rest of us with his cocky attitude and smirks. It makes me sick." Kiba was shaking with anger. "I can't believe we'd have to be stuck with another _ill behaved, rejected, violent, self absorbed _gang leader; and in our class too! It makes me sick!"

"Kiba..." said Hinata quietly as she placed her hands on his shoulder. He calmed down a little bit.

Ino put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. "Well, when you say it like that..."

Kiba continued, "He thinks he can get whatever he wants, whenever he wants and doesn't care about anyone other than himself..."

"It's true. He is very annoying," said Shino, joining the small group. Ino jumped back, completely surprised and caught off guard for the second time today. Shino had just come out of nowhere!

"D-don't do that!" she said startled. Shino didn't respond but continued to speak of Naruto as he adjusted his glasses.

"He has also begun to get on my nerves as well." Kiba nodded to his old friend.

"Well...I don't think he's too bad..." said Ino. Kiba, Shikamaru and Shino just stared at her and Hinata looked away. Ino nodded. "Its just my opinion."

"And it's my opinion that you guys leave now. Class is over you know," said Kakashi as he suddenly appeared behind Ino. Ino jumped ten feet into the air for the third time today before turning on Kakashi.

"Would everyone please stop doing that!!" she shouted.

* * *

Naruto was at the spot. He was ready to take them down. He'd come prepared and was completely prepared to make them pay. Here it was: the first fight with the great Uzumaki Naruto! He could see it now. But more importantly, he was going to have a blast. He continued to imagine how the battle would turn out when someone stepped out of the shadows.

"So _you're_ Uzumaki..."

* * *

**A/N: alright, so in this story we got more of a view of what all the characters (well most of the characters that is) think of Naruto. He's not very liked is he? And what is Miso's plan? And who is that mysterious shadow person who keeps spying on Naruto/comes out at the end of the chapter? Well, keep reading (duh)! And see you in chapter 6 where we will finally get to the actual fight!! see you in chapter 6!!**


	7. Chapter Six: Fight Story

**A/N: I really enjoyed this chapter! I don't know why, but I had a lot of fun writing this! I mean I stayed up until 3 am to write it so yeah...that's passion of a writer right there. So, now, story time. But first...**

**Naruto: raindropdays does not own any of the Naruto characters, or the plot line or Naruto in general. She does own her own characters Fuku, Shinji, Enji and Naoko. good?**

**A/N: very. Now on with the show!**

* * *

Naruto stared at the person in front of him. All day he had had this feeling that _someone _was following him. And here they were, front and center. He gave one of his notorious smirks and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, that's right, I'm Uzumaki. Why? Gotta problem with that?" he asked, cocky as usual.

The boy in front of him clicked his tongue impatiently. "How annoying..."

Naruto caught what he said and just like that, his cool façade disappeared. "What did you just say?" he asked angrily. The boy looked at him and smirked, obviously pleased at how easy it was to provoke the blond. He then turned and without another word began to leave.

"Hey! Get back here! Who are you?" shouted Naruto towards the boy's back. He waited patiently as the boy turned to face him, but only slightly.

"You don't need to know who I am," he replied curtly, "And it's not important that I know who you are either." The boy turned and continued walking. "I thought you were worth my time, but I was unusually wrong," he said over his shoulder.

"Hey! Say that again!" shouted Naruto angrily, but the figure continued walking, not at all phased by Naruto's words. "Damn it. Who is he?" muttered Naruto under his breath once the boy had turned the corner.

"Hey! Don't you have better things to worry about?" shouted someone from behind Naruto.

"I don't think its any of your business what I have to worry abou—" shouted Naruto as he turned to face who had just spoken to him. He stopped when he saw who it was. It was a thug about six foot, two. Huge, with a grin half the size of his huge face and as stupid as a rat. Naruto stared at him with disgusted disbelief. "Who are you?" he asked, lacking all traces of any type of respect.

"The name's Fuku," he replied, still grinning his stupid smile, "And you're the new kid with the attitude, right? Uzumaki." He spat as he said Naruto's name. Naruto stared back at him, the disgust in his face increasing.

"Yeah, that's me, Uzumaki Naruto," replied Naruto, toughly. "So you're Fuku," he said after a moment. "I imagined you being a lot more...I don't know," he said as he scratched his head and pretended to be thinking of the word. "Just all around better," he finally settled on.

Fuku lost his temper quickly as he turned on Naruto. "What was that brat?" he shouted at Naruto angrily, "You know I won't take pity on you just because you're a little kid!" Naruto snorted.

"I'm not that little..." he replied half under his breath, half to Fuku, "I could take you any day any time." Fuku stepped back before glancing at the clock that stood on highest tower of the school. It was almost time.

"You'll be sorry in a minute," said Fuku, suddenly regaining his calm, "You can bet on that." Naruto merely snorted again.

"Yeah right," he turned away for a moment and began to walk away.

"Are you running from me?" shouted Fuku from behind him. Naruto stopped dead in his tracks.

"Run away? From a wimp like you? Consider it a favor," said Naruto quietly.

"Haha, he talks big but I think he's just scared," a girl with a high pitched voice laughed from behind Naruto.

"Agreed," came a raspy voice.

"Heh heh, don't waste your time Fuku, its not worth it on a whelp like this," a third voice chimed in. Naruto spun around to see what the source of these voices were. He came face to face to what was apparently Fuku's gang.

The first voice must have belonged to the only female of the group. She was wearing the traditional Mikoto High School uniform just like all of the other girls only the skirt was longer and worn towards the bottom; a classic sign that she was a 'gang-chick'. Naruto had seen far too many of them back home. She had light brown hair and green eyes that lit up like a cat's when she sneered. She let out another high pitched laugh when she saw Naruto's eyes fall on her and placed her hands behind her back. "Please, Shinji, you could take him, with your arms tied behind your head and a blindfold on," she laughed harshly.

The one who answered was the guy with the raspy voice. He was standing slightly behind Fuku and off to the left. He was crouched over and was wearing an ancient Japanese mask that was permanently modeled in a frown. In his left hand he held a switch blade that was at the moment closed. He laughed similar to the girl and seemed to sway back and forth. "Naoko, don't insult me like that," he said in his raspy voice.

The third one laughed out loud. He was standing the closest to Fuku and was nearest to him in size. He looked normal except for the fact that he bore the scars of a gang war on his cheeks and left arm. "Stop fighting you two," he boomed, "We have an enemy right in front of us."

"Please," said the one named Naoko, "he doesn't even need to take all of us. He could fight just one of us and whoever it was would destroy him in a heartbeat."

The third one rolled his eyes. "He could even fight you Naoko and lose." Naoko shot him an angry look.

"I can fight Enji," she shot at him. The third one, Enji, rolled his eyes and returned his gaze to Naruto who was now facing the four of them with a wide smile. "Hey, why you smiling boy?" he shouted.

"Maybe, he's happy to finally die..." hissed Shinji from his crouching position. Fuku smiled at this.

"Is that it boy? Are you ready to die?" he asked Naruto. Naruto shook his head, eyes closed and still smiling.

"I'm just so happy," he said. He opened his eyes and stared Fuku in the eye, "I'm just so happy to fight you!" He swung his bag over to his left shoulder and placed his right hand in his pocket. "Are you ready to lose?"

* * *

At first Sakura didn't know what was going on. She heard yelling and commotion from outside. She had stayed behind after class to speak with Kakashi and now their entire meeting had been cut short by this noise from outside. It was only a moment later that there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," called Kakashi from his desk. There was no way that he was going to actually _get up_ to answer the door. The door swung open slowly to reveal upperclassman Hyuga Neji leaning over the doorway.

"Sensei," he said briskly. Kakashi nodded to him.

"And to what do I owe this visit from my former student?" asked Kakashi putting down the book he had been sneaking peaks at while he was supposed to be meeting with Sakura.

Neji took two short steps into the room before giving his message to Kakashi. "There appears to be a fight on the front lawn," he said shortly. Kakashi let out a long tired sigh.

"Another?" he asked rhetorically. Neji didn't answer. Kakashi got to his feet and began to make his way to the door.

"Alright, I'm sorry Miss Haruno but we will have to continue our meeting some other time." Sakura got to her feet as well and proceeded to follow her teacher out.

"Right, I understand Sensei," she replied but Kakashi was already gone, down the hall to stop the fight. Sakura was making her way across the room as she caught Neji staring at her. It was only for a brief moment but she could be sure he was. When she refocused her eyes again he had already turned and was leaving the room. Sakura followed him out and onto the front lawn where she lost him in the sea of people, all of which were yelling "fight, fight, fight!"

Sakura shook her head, disgusted by the atmosphere. This was the one thing she had not been able to get used to since she had moved here. The constant fighting and gangs. She turned around looking for the source of the chaos and 'fighters'. She found the spot where the crowd seemed to be focused on and made her way towards it. As she got closer she ran into Ino.

"Sakura!" exclaimed Ino as she grabbed her friend.

"What is it?" asked Sakura, startled. Ino looked Sakura in the eye and answered.

"You won't believe who's fighting," replied Ino. She didn't wait for Sakura to guess or respond, "Its Uzumaki!" Sakura stared back at her friend blankly for a moment before pushing her way through the crowd to see for herself. Ino followed behind her and they both ran into their teacher Kakashi who was standing next to what seemed to be a very angry Neji.

Sakura glanced over her shoulder towards the fight and saw that what Ino had said was indeed correct. There was Naruto, up against a gang, the leader had a bokken pulled and swung over his shoulder and was huge, but it was Naruto who looked intimidating with his cool attitude, and hands driven down into his pockets.

Naruto glanced from his left to his right, scanning the large crowd that just seemed to appear out of nowhere. He then let out a small laugh. "Listen," he whispered, "Do you really want me to beat you so badly, in front of all these people?"

Once again, Fuku's short fuse exploded as he shouted back at Naruto. "You're going to pay for your stuck up attitude boy!"

"Kakashi-sensei!" shouted Sakura as she turned to Kakashi, "Aren't you going to stop them?"

Kakashi had one hand covering his mouth; he didn't seem to be concerned at all. "Watch," was all he said.

"How can you just watch?" demanded Sakura, her eyes full of concern. But Neji silenced her.

"Watch and see what happens," he said, his eyes never leaving the soon to be brawl. "Let's see what Uzumaki is made of." Sakura stopped talking and returned to the battle which was now taking a turn for the action.

"Listen," said Naruto, who was now feigning boredom by 'yawning', "I'm not a fan of talk, so can we hurry up and get this show on the road?" Fuku's temper snapped at this.

"In that case, prepare to die!" he shouted as he swung his bokken from over his shoulder and towards Naruto. Naruto easily dodged the blow moving so that he was next to Fuku instead of facing him.

"You are way too slow," he sneered, as he kicked Fuku hard in the ribs. Fuku staggered backwards, swinging his sword back and forth, missing the blond by inches.

"You will pay for your smart mouth!" he shouted angrily. Naruto feigned another yawn as he dodged Fuku's swings. Fuku swung again and again leaving a predictable plan of attack to which Naruto quickly took advantage of. As Fuku's next swing ended Naruto took he chance at an opening landing a large punch on Fuku, straight in the gut. Fuku fell backwards and onto his butt as Naruto laughed.

"Well?" he asked, provoking the once proud gang leader. Fuku attempted to get to his feet, using his bokken as a cane but he fell again. He then turned to Shinji and Enji who immediately understood his silent command. Both leapt into action but neither were a match for Naruto.

Shinji, who fought with knife was quickly defeat as Naruto tripped him and then slapped his knife from his hand leaving him completely open for a blow to the ribs. Shinji staggered back a way before hitting the ground hard, landing just a few feet from his fallen weapon.

Enji on the other hand fought with his hands more and didn't rely on any weapon to which Naruto complimented him for. "A weapon just proves how weak you really are," replied Naruto as he blocked one of Enji's punches. Enji tried to kick Naruto but Naruto dodged it and followed up with a kick of his own which missed his mark by mere centimeters. Enji thought he had an opening but he realized he had merely been fooled as Naruto landed a punch right between his eyes. Enji stumbled back and into a wall, clutching his face. Naruto grinned and then turned to Naoko.

"This is lame," he said placing his hands behind his head and stepping back, "Fighting a girl is so cheap." Naoko's face immediately turned to rage as she pulled a switchblade similar to Shinji's from her skirt and came at Naruto.

"You want to see cheap?" she shouted as she neared him, "Don't judge me!" But Naruto was quick to finish her moves off as well. As she neared him, he grabbed her wrist taking a small step back and bent it backwards to she dropped the knife and then used her arm as a lever to throw her towards her fallen comrades. She landed on top of Fuku, clutching her wrist in pain.

Naruto took one look at his fallen opponents, then turned on his heel and begin walking towards the exit. People, students and teachers alike quickly moved aside and out of his path as he made his way, no one dared to make eye contact with him but they all stared.

Sakura was among those who stared, with eyes full of amazement, but in a bad way. Ino was just as shocked as she stood near Sakura. Neji still seemed to be upset as were Shikamaru and Kiba. They were definitely annoyed with this guy. On the other hand, Hinata seemed to be worried as she watched Naruto walk out. He never looked back, not so much as a glance, a flicker of the eyes. He just continued walking with a smug smirk painted on his face. He had to admit he was having fun.

Besides the endless crowd of people, that was now being cleared out by the administrative forces there was one other person watching. He was the one from earlier, the one who had approached Uzumaki Naruto seconds before his fight had broken out. He was crouched over the fence up above the scene looking down with a look of interest on his face. Uzumaki Naruto had managed to do a number of things on his first day at Mikoto High School. 1) He had managed to tick off and make mortal enemies with a stubborn girl named Haruno Sakura 2) He had made a reputation as a tough fighter who could take out an entire gang single handedly...and 3) He had caught the interest of Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

**A/N: So like I said before, I enjoyed this chapter a lot! Maybe it's because Sasuke came out...hmm. Anyway! On a minor note I'd like to point out the music I listened to while I worked on this chapter. For writing it I listened to Broken Youth (6th Naruto shippuuden ending) and for editing I listened to Blue Bird (3rd Naruto shippuuden opening). I'd recommend both songs highly and yeah...sorry, just sharing my inspiration! Also, I tried my best to edit this chapter for grammer and spelling mistakes because I usually skip that process...so umm, yeah...anyway, I'll see everyone in chapter seven!**

**Naruto: will I be a conceited jerk like Sasuke again?**

**A/N: uhhh, maybe?**

**Naruto: ...**

**A/N: so anyway, the first fight is over so see what happens next! Review please and till next time!**


	8. Chapter Seven: Reputation Story

**A/N: well here we are in chapter seven!! I hope everyone enjoyed my poorly written fight scene. As far as this chapter goes I think its pretty uneventful but yeah, it needed to be written eventually! Anyway, disclaimer please!**

**Naruto: raindropdays does not own Naruto, characters or plot. She does own Miso and Kaze...who is an idiot...and a jerk...and a loser...and a --**

**A/N: alright, alright, thank you Naruto! Now, on with the story!**

* * *

"I can't believe Fuku was beaten..."

"Did you hear what Uzumaki did?"

"One guy against four! And he won!"

"Maybe he could even take on..."

Kamiya lost his temper at the words and slammed his hand against the wall angrily. "I can't believe they think that that kid would even have a chance against us!" he exclaimed angrily. He turned his head to his subordinates who were staring crossly at the crowd of people walking past. Everyone at school had seen the fight; everyone had seen Uzumaki Naruto make a fool out of Fuku's gang. Kamiya bit his tongue and scowled. "Tora's not gonna like this. He's not gonna like this one bit..." Meio turned to Kamiya to offer up his opinion.

"Kamiya..." he said quietly. Kamiya shot him an angered look.

"What?" he spat.

Mei stepped back a little bit but quickly regained his stature. "We could challenge Uzumaki," he offered. Kamiya slapped him over the back of the head angrily.

"No," he said firmly, "That, you idiot, would be going against Tora's wishes. Do you want to get yourself killed? Honestly, I wonder." Meio looked away and left Kamiya to his thinking. "Anyway, believe me, Uzumaki will come to us. With an attitude like his, I'm sure of it."

* * *

"Well," said Kakashi as he turned back to face his class. His eyes brushed over each of the students in the room. "Let's see, who's missing today?" Sakura tapped her fingers impatiently on the desk. He was late again. How annoying could he get? How annoying could one person _be_?

Ino turned around and winked at her. Sakura cocked her head to the side. What on Earth did Ino mean by that? As she pondered the thought the door opened dramatically and none other than Naruto Uzumaki marched in.

"Yo," he said to Kakashi as he strode across the room and took his seat. He didn't show any remorse at all even though he was at least forty minutes late to class.

"Uzumaki...you're late..." said Kakashi as he watched the blond take his seat but Naruto merely shrugged and kicked his feet up on the desk. Kakashi sighed and returned to the board and began to write down key points of the lesson, but no one's eyes were on the board. Their eyes were all Naruto, fastened and wide. All except for Sakura's eyes that is. She was scribbling away furiously in her notebook, head down and with absolutely no intent of even glancing at Naruto.

Naruto smiled to himself at all of the attention he was getting but he frowned when he saw Sakura's head down and facing away from him. What was the point of all this fame if the girl he wanted to notice him the most wouldn't? He scowled and looked away out the window. He would get her to notice him though, he just had to. Ino glanced back and forth between Naruto and Sakura, once, twice and then a third time before a plan crossed her mind. She smiled and turned to Shikamaru who was dozing over his books.

"Shikamaru!" she hissed. Shikamaru shifted in his sleep, obviously not paying any attention to Ino. "Shikamaru!" Ino shouted standing up and banging on his desk. Shikamaru did not even lift an eyelid. He had trained himself to sleep through Ino's harsh and loud nagging sprees.

Kakashi turned to Ino and raised an eyebrow. Ino quickly sat back down in her seat and opened her book, avoiding eye contact with Kakashi. Kakashi turned back to the board and sighed, something he seemed to do nonstop in this class, but then again, it was just a normal day at Mikoto High.

* * *

Class slithered by uneventfully as Kakashi continued on and on with his never-ending lecture. Naruto kicked his chair off the ground and balanced himself on the back two legs. "Heh heh," he laughed to himself as he rocked himself back and forth, careful not to attract the attention of Kakashi or fall. He swung himself back and forth a few times before carefully setting himself back on the floor and then starting the cycle again. He had just gotten his chair off the ground perfectly for the fourth time when the door to the classroom slammed open.

Naruto, who was surprised by the sudden burst of loud noise, kicked off a little bit too aggressively from the desk and lost his balance, causing the chair to topple backwards and onto the floor. Kakashi paid no attention to Naruto and merely turned to the young boy who was now standing in his doorway.

"Yes?" he asked. The boy marched over to Kakashi and handed him a letter and then walked out. Kakashi opened the letter, took one glance at it, sighed again and then turned to Naruto. "Uzumaki," he called aloofly, "The principal would like to have a word with you." Naruto grabbed the edge of the desk with his left hand and pulled himself up.

"Me?" he asked still in pain from his not so glamorous fall. Kakashi gave a simple nod before turning back to the board. "I trust you know the way?" Naruto got to his feet, painfully, and headed out of the room, making sure to look very nonchalant and cool as he went. As he passed Sakura he looked down at her and smiled. Sakura rolled her eyes in response but Naruto didn't catch it. He was already on his way out the door.

Kakashi let out another long sigh as Naruto closed the door behind him. He knew perfectly well what Kaze was going to say to Naruto, and he had to admit, it would not make relations between the school and the blond any better. Nope. No better at all.

Naruto walked down the darkened halls, hands in his pockets and scowl on his face. "What could that bastard have to say to me?" he wondered quietly to himself as he turned a corner. He had hated the guy from day one and his speech about this mysterious gang catcher and son of his, Tezuka. Where was Tezuka anyway? Why didn't he come out and fight him head on? Naruto smiled to himself. This amazing Tezuka had to be scared of him. There was no other reason for this ignorance.

Naruto reached the door to Kaze's office and without even knocking, opened the door and let himself in. "Hey Kaze," he said disrespectfully as he walked into the room. Kaze looked up, gave a sigh and leaned back.

"Uzumaki..." he said, his voice dripping with hatred. Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"What's up?" he asked. Kaze shook his head a total of three times before getting down to business, as he liked to call of it.

"Uzumaki," he repeated before leaning forward and peering at Naruto with glossy black eyes, "Please take a seat." Naruto paused for a second and then took a seat in the same chair he had sat in just a day ago. He kicked his feet up onto the desk and leaned his head back just as he always did. Kaze merely rolled his eyes. Vulgar little piece of...but he was used to dealing with 'people' like Naruto, given that you _could _call them people. "Now Uzumaki," Kaze started again, still eying Naruto evilly, "It has come to my attention that you were involved in a fight yesterday." Naruto peered over his feet at Kaze. So Kaze was going to give him another lecture, was he?

"Yeah," he replied. He gave a wicked smile, "I showed them their place." Kaze stood up in rage and slammed his left hand down on the table, scattering a few papers as he did so.

"This is just the type of attitude I was worried about in letting you come here!" he shouted angrily. Naruto raised another eyebrow.

"But you did let me come here so really you have no one to blame except yourself..." he replied smoothly.

Kaze pointed at him accusingly. "You threatened me!" he shouted. Naruto shrugged and looked up at Kaze. He was turning purple with what seemed to be anger, rage, fury and hatred towards a certain blond who was sitting across from him. The man continued to steam for another forty-five seconds before regaining his calm and sitting down.

"Alright Uzumaki," he said, straightening his tie, "Now you listen to me. As I said when you so rudely first arrived here fighting is strictly off limits." Naruto scowled again but Kaze continued, "Now, either learn to abide by these rules or fight on your own time. I will not have another fight breaking out on my grounds. Do you understand?" He spat the last words at Naruto and then glared at him with cold and warning eyes. But Naruto could see through his façade, still he might as well humor the man for today at least.

"Fine," he replied before left, leaving Kaze in an empty office with not one ounce of dignity to show for the meeting. His plan to scold Uzumaki Naruto had not gone quite as well as he had hoped.

Naruto on the other hand had thought the meeting had gone very nicely. He smiled to himself as he rounded another corner, on his way back to class. His reputation at this new school was going very nicely. Now if only he could find this Tezuka kid...

Naruto was so caught up in his own thoughts of greatness that he didn't notice Miso walking behind him. "Uzumaki," she called softly. He continued walking, dreaming up scenes in his head of Tezuka begging for mercy. He laughed. "Uzumaki," she called again, but Naruto still didn't hear her. "Uzumaki!" Miso called a bit louder which caused Naruto to jump.

"What?! What!?" he cried as he spun around quickly. "Oh, it's just you," he said relieved when he saw Miso smiling back at him. "What is it?" he asked.

"I was just wondering what you were doing out here," replied Miso calmly. She pointed at the clock. "Aren't you supposed to be in class now?" Naruto crossed his arms.

"I had an appointment with Mr. Big Shot, the principal," he replied. "And you?"

"It's my class's break," replied Miso quickly and smoothly. Naruto eyed her suspiciously but she continued on, changing the subject before he could question her. "Why did you have to go to the principal's office?"

Naruto thought for a moment for the best possible way to answer Miso's question before answering. "I got in trouble for fighting," he finally said. Miso nodded and then turned away from Naruto.

"You should be more careful," she finally said. Naruto scoffed.

"It's not like Kaze could do anything anyway," he replied confidently.

"But you should still be more careful," Miso replied, her voice full of concern. Naruto noticed this time and decided not to argue.

"Alright..." he answered quietly. Miso looked back at him surprised. That wasn't the answer she was expecting him to say. Since when were gang leaders so... She didn't dare finish that thought. Instead she turned away again and began walking away. "Hey wait!" called Naruto as she glided away from him, "Wait up!" he took a few steps to catch up to her and they walked back to class together.

* * *

**A/N: Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! The way things are going now, I'm expecting to end this story around a chapter in the upper teens but I'm not sure about the number. So anyway, I listened to Broken Youth again while I wrote this (good song!!) and see you in chapter 8!!**

**Naruto: Kaze is still a loser, and a jerk, and an idiot, and a freak, and stupid and--**

**A/N: THANK YOU NARUTO!!**


	9. Chapter Eight: Luck Story

**A/N: Hi everyone! How is everyone today? I hope well... anyway, my author's note at the end of this chapter is long (and mostly important so read it!) so I'll keep it short up here. Now, Sakura, please disclaim.**

**Sakura: raindropdays does not own Naruto, the characters or the plot. She does own her own characters Meio and Tora.**

**A/N: I sure do. Alright on with the story!**

* * *

"So, Haruno, you sure you don't want to go out with me?" asked Naruto in his usual cocky way for about the third time as he leaned over Sakura's desk. Somehow, this had become his favorite hang out place in the classroom. Her eyes shot up at him with icy coolness.

"No thank you," she said crisply before getting to her feet and heading out. Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and stepped backwards, watching the girl of his dreams leave the room.

"I don't get it..." he pondered to himself. Wasn't he the perfect guy? He continued thinking for another moment but quickly shook the thought off and headed to pack up his bag. Everyone else had pretty much just about cleared out of the classroom. Naruto grudgingly packed away his English book which Kakashi had hit him over the head with earlier that class period for falling asleep during skill reading number 507. But seriously, why on Earth would you have over 507 skill readings in one book? He picked the book up and flipped through the book. And why would you write a book over 1000 pages long. Naruto shook his head at the thought and continued throwing the various items into his bag.

"Come on," called Kakashi from behind his desk. He was leaning back in his chair with his favorite book out, waiting eagerly for his last student to leave the room so that he would be able to finally leave the school. Naruto threw his last pencil in his bag and swung his bag over his shoulder. "Don't get into another fight," Kakashi called after him casually as Naruto passed his desk. Naruto waved to Kakashi with his back turned to him as he left signifying an answer that was neither yes nor no. Kakashi sighed as the troublemaker disappeared from view beyond the doorway. He had a bad feeling about this.

Naruto turned another corner heading for the exit. He had been in a foul mood for the entire length of the afternoon classes ever since Kakashi had interrupted a vivid dream about beating the crap out of Tezuka and winning Sakura's heart in the process. He scowled angrily as he saw a figure step out of the shadows a little further ahead of him. A fight was coming; he could feel it.

Usually, Naruto Uzumaki would be thrilled to have a challenge but right at this moment, Naruto could care less who it was. Being shot down by Haruno and rudely woken up from his afternoon nap had made him irritable to attack. "What do you want?" he yelled as he continued walking past the shadows where the man stood. The figure stepped out of the shadows a little bit more to reveal a fairly tall man with jet black hair and pale brown eyes.

"You're a bit touchier than I would have expected," replied the man to Naruto's back. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Naruto spun around with a snide smirk on his face, "I get that a lot. So who the hell are you?" The man laughed an evil laugh and glared at Naruto with eyes of hatred and contempt.

"The name's Meio," he answered swiftly. Naruto waited for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

"That's it?" he asked. "You're just telling me your name for fun or something?" Meio seemed to be getting angry now.

"Fight me," he replied. Naruto sighed. He knew this was coming. He looked from Meio to the door near him. This was a hard choice to make. "If you do, I can introduce you to Tora," said Meio trying to persuade Naruto. He could see the disinterest in his eyes however at the mention of Tora's name Naruto seemed intrigued.

"Tora?" he repeated. Meio nodded.

"That's right. The infamous leader of the greatest gang leader in this whole town," Meio bragged. He smirked when he saw the look on Naruto's face. "You interested now?" Naruto closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No, not really." Meio looked taken back. He had been sure that this would fire up Uzumaki and yet somehow, it hadn't. "But," continued Naruto, "If you really want to fight me," Naruto opened his eyes and glared at Meio, "We might as well get this show on the road." Naruto threw his bag to the side and placed his hands in his pockets.

"You won't beat me like you beat Fuku," Meio snarled to his opponent.

"Yeah, yeah, all talk," replied Naruto, "You gonna fight me or what?" Without ado, Meio jumped forward into battle, fully prepared to destroy Naruto. He arched his arm back to hit Naruto but Naruto easily dodged it and kicked Meio in the back of the head, sending him soaring into the wall. Naruto feigned a yawn as he watched Meio struggle to his feet. He knew he would win against this mysterious challenger but this was just pathetic. He had expected at least some kind of challenge. Naruto sighed. "Is that all you got?" he shouted to Meio but Meio merely spat at him.

"You're going to wish you hadn't of said that!" he shouted as he came at Naruto again. This time he aimed a punch a bit lower and he timed it better as well. Naruto had to work a little bit harder in order to dodge it but he still did. Meio was now getting pissed as he shouted off another round of insults and taunts to Naruto but Naruto paid no attention to him as he slammed his elbow into Meio's face. He stepped back as the black haired loser fell to his knees in front of him.

"Had enough?" asked Naruto, as he stared at Meio indifferently. Meio stood up, clutching his nose a look of mixed anger and distaste on his distorted face. Naruto held back a smirk as he turned to leave. There really was no point finishing him off. He was already having a pretty sucky day and the whole "beating Meio to a bloody pulp" thing would just waste five more minutes of his life. But Meio had other plans.

Once Naruto's back was turned to him Meio executed his plan and switched a pocket knife open. Without a second thought he ran towards Naruto, attempting to literally stab him in the back. How lacking of sportsmanship can you be? Naruto realized Meio's plan a few seconds before the blade reached him and turned slightly, but he was too late and the blade grazed over his left arm. Meio smirked as the blade made contact with the blond's skin and at the shocked look on his face but his own smirk was soon wiped clean as Naruto slammed his left arm into Meio's chest. Meio dropped to the ground for the third time in the fight, this time coughing up blood. Naruto clutched his left arm angrily as blood trailed down it and dropped into the puddle of Meio's blood at his feet. Naruto spat angrily, a look of pain on his face.

"Damned cheater," he thought bitterly as he bit his tongue, glancing at Meio.

_Clap Clap Clap_

Naruto looked up angrily when he heard someone clapping. First, he's hit over the head by his homeroom teacher, then he's rejected by his dream girl, third he's _almost _defeated in a very cheap _cheap _way and NOW someone was clapping? He couldn't believe his luck today. He looked around for a moment before his eyes landed on a guy about his age, with reddish brown hair and square cut classes. His onyx eyes were set on Naruto as he clapped slowly and dramatically. Around him were about twenty other guys, all silently watching Naruto and the just recently defeated Meio.

Naruto scanned the crowd, intrigued by their appearance. Yup, there was no doubt about it. They were a gang and by the look of it, Mr. Red-Headed-Clap-At-Random-Fights-For-No-Reason was the leader. Naruto continued looking up and down the crowd until his eyes fell on someone familiar. That no good bastard he'd 'met' on his first day at Mikoto High: Kamiya. Naruto put a look of complete hatred when he saw him but Kamiya didn't pay any attention to him; instead his eyes fell to Meio.

"You idiot," he said quietly, "I told you, didn't I?" Naruto was about to ask what he meant when the red head spoke up.

"Ahh, Uzumaki Naruto," he said in an elongated tone, "So we finally meet." Naruto eyed him suspiciously.

"Who are you?" he asked. The red head paid no attention to his question and continued.

"I knew we would meet eventually, but who knew it would be like this. Personally, I would have liked our first meeting to be me versus you, face-to-face, but little Meio here," he snapped his fingers and two of his subordinates stepped forward and past Naruto, dragging Meio to his feet and back to the rest of the gang, "beat me to a stab at you." He paused and looked at Naruto and smirked when he saw Naruto's left shoulder. "Literally."

Naruto scoffed. Who did this guy think he was? He had to admit that the red head had a lot of people following him but still... He could take them without a doubt. "If it's a fight you want, I'll take you right here and now, one on one," said Naruto smirking. The red head raised his eyebrows.

"Will you?" he asked, interested. He stepped towards Naruto. Fierce blue eyes met piercing onyx eyes and the two were locked in a fierce glaring match but neither looked the lesser. "Do you even know who I am?"

Naruto jeered. "I don't need to know who you are to beat you," was his only response. The red head raised his eyebrows but like so many before him who had faced Naruto, he didn't look intimidated at all. If only Naruto could perfect that one skill...

"He's the famous Tora," said Meio from his position a few men from the red head, "The most infamous gang leader in all of Japan." The red head—Tora—as he was called, laughed at Meio's remark.

"I guess you could call me that," he stated more to himself than to Naruto. He turned back to Naruto. "That's right," he said sharply, "I'm Tora, this is my gang, Hebi, and you Uzumaki have crossed the line."

Naruto had to admit he was a little bit interested now. "Crossed the line?" he repeated, "You mean I'm better than you?" Naruto smirked at his last line and Tora smiled a little bit.

"I mean, someone's put a little black smudge on my gang's record, and now its time we eradicate the perpetrator," clarified Tora darkly. Muffled cackles swept through the crowd of gang members behind Tora. Naruto wasn't the type to lose his cool in a situation like this and true to his reputation he didn't. But still, one against twenty. The odds didn't look good. No wonder Naruto hated math. Tora stepped forward. Another 'thug' behind him also made a move but Tora held his hand up signaling for him to stop. "So, any idea who such a felon is?" he asked evilly, "A narcissistic fool like you should know the answer."

Naruto wasn't intimidated. "If you're mad that I beat up those losers the other day," he said harshly, "Than you should really be disappointed in yourself." Naruto turned his head and seemed to be looking off in the distance. "I mean, I didn't expect 'the most infamous gang leader in Japan' to hire such weak flunkies." Naruto's insult didn't work. Tora just smiled again at his words.

"Yes, Fuku and the rest of them were quite weak," the man behind Tora pulled out a knife, "That's why we took care of them." This time Naruto was caught of guard. Had they—? No...they couldn't of... Tora laughed at Naruto's face. "I heard about what you did for Tsukiyo when you first arrived here but I didn't think you had this soft of a heart. What poor form for a gang leader," remarked Tora. Naruto's eyes flared when he heard mention of Mio's surname but Tora didn't give him a chance to question his words. "And now, we've had enough talk, we should take care of you I suppose before it gets too late." About five men, each equipped with a few knives stepped forward as Tora crossed his arms over his chest. Naruto braced himself as they approached him. "It was nice to meet you Uzumaki," Tora said snidely, "And now it will be nice to say good bye as well."

* * *

**A/N: alright! So, I REALLY enjoyed writing this chapter (for reasons unknown). For some reason I really like writing the chapters in which rival gangs appear. I'm not sure why. So I thought Naruto was well, Naruto in this chapter. He's a stickler for good etiquette in fighting and really hates cheaters (like Meio). Also, I think people can see he has a good heart (maybe? hopefully?).**

**Now, moving on, Hebi. It means snake and yes, it is the former name of Sasuke's group (for readers of the manga who are up to date). But no, there is no connection at all. I just liked the name Hebi and I needed a name for the gang so there it is. Odd, the leader's name is Tiger and the gang name is Snake...hmmm...Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did and come back soon to see what happens to Naruto!! Alright, so enough out of me. See you in chapter nine and remember: REVIEWS FASTER UPDATE!! litteraly. I plan to have chapter 9 out in 5 days but for every review I get I'll decrease the wait time by a day (5 reviews and I'll update before midnight tonight) bye!**


	10. Chapter Nine: Snake and Tiger Story

**A/N: hello everyone! Thanks to everyone who reviewed this chapter is out early! D Well, actually, it was supposed to be out yesterday but my internet was down so...to make up for it I made this a long and hopefully eventful chapter (maybe...?)! So I guess there's nothing more to say up here than please enjoy and once again thanks for reviews! Oh yeah, and this: Naruto disclaim!**

**Naruto: I got _cut_ in the last chapter!? what is that? **

**A/N: . . . just disclaim...we'll discuss this later!!**

**Naruto: but! but!! -reads reviews- I AM SO IMMORTAL!!**

**A/N: JUST DISCLAIM!!**

**Naruto: fine...raindropdays does not own Naruto, the characters or the plot...she does own Miso and all the losers like Kaze and Tora though...**

**A/N: thanks...I think...**

* * *

Naruto put up his hands in preparation to fight as the men approached, each with looks on their faces that signified that they were at least a bit smarter than Fuku and his band of freaks had been. The one closest to Naruto pulled out a weapon which had a blade on the end of a chain and prepared to swing it. "Any last words?" Tora called. Naruto didn't respond. He was focused on how he was going to get out of this dilemma he had landed himself in. The man was about to strike and he was ready to defend when...

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" came the very loud and annoying voice of none other than Kaze, the anti-fight principal. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" he shouted as he neared the crowd. The one nearest to Naruto with the chain weapon dropped his arm and Naruto jammed his hands back into his pockets. No one dared to answer his question. Kaze's eyes jumped from each of the participants, the anger visibly growing as he saw each one. Then his eyes landed on the big talker and leader, Tora. His eyes softened when he saw him. Naruto noticed this and raised an eyebrow but before he could ponder the thought longer Kaze's eyes shot back to him.

"Uzumaki," he said lowly. Naruto didn't answer so Kaze continued, "I strictly said one more fight would get you thrown out of Mikoto High," Naruto continued to stare back at Kaze. Kaze's eyes flew to Tora once again and then back to Naruto. "But because I didn't see any actual fighting here, you are off the hook along with the rest of you. Now get home!" Everyone quickly dissipated from the spot as Naruto stared at Kaze in shock. What happened to _absolutely no fighting_? What happened to the hater of gangs that had once been his principal? A monkey could figure out there was fight going on here! Not that he wasn't grateful for getting off the hook but even so, he was in shock. Kaze saw Naruto staring at him and angrily scowled. "Do you want to be expelled Uzumaki? Get out of here!" Naruto simply scoffed, grabbed his bag that had been tossed aside and walked off coolly. Kaze had his own problems. Who was he to judge them?

* * *

Even though the whole school hadn't been there watching him, there was even more talk and gossip than the last time Uzumaki Naruto had been in a fight. More and more people stated at Naruto as he traversed down the crowded halls. Some with hate in their eyes, they had to be the ones who were part of Hebi, some with amazement, the fans obviously, some with shock, the nonbelievers, and some with fear, enough said. Naruto enjoyed the attention and lived it up to the fullest once again. But there was something he had to sort out first. Who exactly was Tora. He'd met the guy but still...

He cruised into first period, late as usual and took his seat in the back, after winking at Haruno as he passed her desk of course. "You're late," said Kakashi, uninterested. Naruto shrugged.

"When aren't I?" replied Naruto equally uninterested. Kakashi seemed to agree with this and called on Hinata to read from the book. She glanced over at Naruto for a short moment before standing up and quickly reading, stuttering over a few words as she went. Kiba saw Hinata's glance and growled a little bit. Naruto didn't pay any attention to the ordeal. He was doing one of his top favorite class activities: staring at Sakura. It had to tie with sleeping and daydreaming for best tactic to ignore Kakashi. He continued to stare at her until Kakashi so rudely threw a piece of chalk at him and commanded him to read from the book.

Ino was watching Naruto stare at Sakura. She was also watching Sakura's face. She knew Sakura knew Naruto was staring at her and it was making Sakura angrier and angrier by the moment. Ino shook her head. She just had to help her friend out. After being shot down by Sasuke Sakura had no hope for romance but that just might change. Ino continued scheming to herself for the rest of class.

Lunch finally came. Naruto who was usually first out the door, held back a little bit so that he could try and make another move on Sakura. "Hey Haruno!" he called as he walked up to her desk. She was packing up her bag and when she saw Naruto she quickly scowled.

"What do you want?" she asked harshly. Ino had grabbed Shikamaru's arm and had forced him to watch Naruto and Sakura with her from behind the door shortly after they had walked out.

"Why are we doing something so troublesome?" he asked in the usual voice he used around Ino but Ino simply hit him in the arm.

"Because I said so!" Shikamaru didn't feel like arguing with Ino. He sighed and continued watching the scene unfold before him.

"Listen Haruno, I'm a better guy than you give me credit for," said Naruto as he leaned forward. He tried to capture Sakura with his arm but she was too quick for him, as she darted away. Naruto hadn't expected this so he lost his balance and fell on top of Sakura's desk.

"Serves you right," she said disgusted with Naruto as she picked up her bag and walked out leaving Naruto lying in pain on top of her desk.

"You may be able to fight, but you really need help in the romance department," remarked Kakashi as Naruto struggled to his feet. He shot an angered look at his sensei who was reading another book and stormed out. Once again, that woman had put him in a bad mood. He sighed. He would get her. It was a promise.

Sakura was also in a bad mood. Naruto did that a lot to her. She was in an even worse mood when she caught Ino and Shikamaru spying on her. "What are you doing?" she shouted when she saw her best friend behind the door. Ino laughed nervously. She had not planned on being discovered but she had been so busy hitting Shikamaru for calling her troublesome that she hadn't seen Sakura coming and had time to escape.

"Nothing," she laughed, letting go of Shikamaru, "H-how are you Sakura?" Sakura sighed.

"I have such a headache from dealing with that blond idiot that I don't feel like arguing with you, Ino," Sakura stated tiredly. Shikamaru scoffed. That made two of them.

"Aw, come on Sakura, its not that bad," said Ino comfortingly. Sakura shot Ino a death glare.

"It's bad Ino. It's worse than bad. It's Uzumaki."

* * *

Naruto didn't get very far before he ran into Miso. She was sitting alone under the cherry blossom tree in the front of the school and she seemed to be thinking something over. "Oi Tsukiyo!" shouted Naruto as he neared the tree, "What's up?" Miso looked up quickly at the sound of Naruto's voice and smiled.

"Uzumaki," she called back. Naruto plopped down next to her.

"Call me Naruto," he replied. Miso blushed lightly.

"Then call me Miso," she replied and Naruto smiled a classic 'Naruto-smile'.

"No problem." There was a moment of silence in which Miso continued to smile. Finally Naruto spoke again.

"Who is Tora?" he suddenly said. Miso's face turned to grimace at the sound of the gang leader's name.

"He's a famous gang leader," Miso finally replied. Naruto nodded and Miso continued recognizing that Naruto wanted a deeper explanation. "He leads the gang called Hebi. It's a local gang here and the most powerful and famous. They're responsible for most of the capital crimes that occur around here." She lowered her voice. "Even murder." Naruto wasn't fazed at all. After what Tora had said the previous day, he didn't doubt it. Miso sighed and continued, "But the real need-to-know information about Tora is that his name, Tora is actually a pseudonym."

Naruto looked surprised. "A pseudonym?" he repeated, "You mean like an alias?" Miso nodded.

"Yes. His real name, you might be familiar with it." Naruto nodded anxiously. "It's Kaze Tezuka."

Naruto was shocked in every way that a person could be shocked. The most infamous and possibly most lethal gang leader in all of Japan was the principal's son AND according to his father, the greatest gang catcher who had ever lived? "So that's why Kaze didn't expel us yesterday for fighting," said Naruto. Miso nodded, her eyes closed.

"Yes, most likely. Principal Kaze doesn't like to admit it but its true, his son is the infamous Tora."

"And he knows?" asked Naruto incredulously. Once again Miso nodded.

"Believe me, he knows." Once again, Naruto was shocked and didn't know what to think. This new school was just full of twists and turns. "So," said Miso, "You're on their hit list I hear?" Naruto nodded and smiled a toothy grin.

"Naturally!" Miso's eyes looked concerned.

"Oh Naruto, I know you're strong, you'd have to be to take on those four the other day but Hebi's another story completely. You don't want to get mixed up with them." Naruto recognized the fear in Miso's voice and her eyes and smiled kindly at her.

"Don't worry, Miso, nothing's gonna happen to me," he reassured her quietly. She seemed on the verge of tears.

"Naruto...you don't want to get mixed up with them," she repeated, "Believe me." He put his arm on her shoulder as she held back the tears. "I know how it feels," she added in her thoughts, "To be mixed up with them."

* * *

Alright, so Naruto had met the infamous Tora/Tezuka, pissed the beautiful Sakura off at least twice each day, and caused the entire student body to stare at him when he walked through the halls. There was only more thing he needed to do this week. And yes, it included a certain pretty boy, at least that's how he thought of him in his own thoughts.

He saw him on his way out. It had been the first time in over a week. He had his back turned to him, along with the rest of the world. His bag was tossed over his shoulder and he was walking at a brisk pace. As soon as Naruto saw the silhouette his eyes lit up. He had wanted to talk to this guy ever since he'd approached him that day he fought Fuku and his gang. And here he was, right in front of him.

"Hey!" he shouted angrily to him. No response. The boy simply continued walking. "Hey!" Naruto shouted again, but once again no response. There had to be a way to get his attention, and what other way then a punch landed on his pretty head? Naruto swung his arm back and ran at the boy, his clenched fist aimed for the boy's head.

The boy noticed the 'sneak attack' a moment before Naruto would have landed it and turned to face him. The next thing Naruto knew, his hand had been caught by the raven haired boy who was now staring at him with a look of disinterest. "What do you want?" he asked, annoyed, as he threw Naruto back. Naruto gaped at the pretty boy. Did he just catch the punch? The raven haired boy waited a moment before clicking his tongue in an annoyed fashion and turning.

"Hey, wait you teme!" shouted Naruto, regaining his composure. The boy stopped and turned to face Naruto. "You said it wasn't important that you knew who I was last week," Naruto shouted, "Is it important now?"

The boy stared at Naruto before replying. "Why would it be?" Naruto gaped again. Was this guy blind?

"I'm on Hebi's hit list!" he shouted. The boy rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue again before turning to walk away.

"You're such an annoying dobe..." he said as he walked off, leaving Naruto completely fired up and angry.

"Who do you think you are?" shouted Naruto to the boy's back, "I could take you any day!" The boy stopped at these words.

"Really?" he asked without turning around. He seemed amused by the sheer stupidity of Naruto's words. He thought for a moment before answering, "I'd take you up on that offer if you weren't so weak..." And with that he continued walking, finally making it past the iron gates. Naruto steamed over him for another moment.

"Who the hell was he!?" shouted Naruto furiously.

Ino had been watching the entire banter from behind the cherry blossom tree. Her plan was slowly taking shape and she knew exactly how to make it work. "Hey Uzumaki!" she called as she came out of her hiding spot towards Naruto. Naruto spun around to see Ino. He stared at her for a moment, before asking a highly lethal question.

"Who are you?" Ino's eyes flared dangerously with fire as she dug her heel into Naruto's foot.

"I'm Yamanaka Ino," she hissed, "I'm in your class, you moron!" Naruto pushed her off of his foot.

"Alright, alright," he said, clutching his bruising foot, "What do you want, besides breaking my toes?" Ino turned her head to the side angrily. Honestly, she had come all the way here to _help _him and this is how he treated her. But still, it was for Sakura so...

"Listen," she said turning back to Naruto, "I know who that guy was." Naruto's face lit up.

"You're gonna tell me teme's name?" asked Naruto brightly. Ino grinned and nodded.

"Yup, but I'm pretty surprised you don't know it already," said Ino thoughtfully, "After all, everyone pretty much knows it around here; all the guys and all the girls." Naruto raised an eyebrow. If he really was that popular no wonder the teme was so stuck up.

"What is it?" inquired Naruto.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Ino breathed out.

"Hm, Uchiha-teme," replied Naruto, "It fits him."

"You could get in a lot of trouble around here by saying that," advised Ino. Once again Naruto wondered about her words.

"Is he really that popular?" he asked. Ino nodded a huge nod.

"Oh yeah, any girl would kill you for saying that," she replied.

"And you?" snorted Naruto. Ino flipped her long pony tail over her shoulder and look way from Naruto.

"I've had my share of him," she replied simply. Naruto didn't ask any further questions on the topic, but only because he didn't care much about Ino's past relationships. He turned to walk away from her when she called him again, this time with an offer that was possibly even more interesting than her last.

"Uzumaki! " she called, "There's one more thing I can help you with."

"What?" Naruto called over his shoulder not bothering to turn around or stop.

"I can help you get Haruno Sakura."

* * *

**A/N: See? Longish chapter as promised! And it's 3:30 am. I seem to do my best thinking at this time of night. There were a few mysteries cleared up in this chapter and a few more introduced. So Tora and Tezuka are the same person...wow, well believe me, he'll be an essential character later in this story. Also, who is Miso really? I know you're wondering...and will Naruto ever get Sakura (well with Ino's help he just might...or end up beat up very badly)? Anyway, words of clarification here: Naruto's nickname on Sasuke. I hope everyone should know what that means... (teme that is), but just in case you don't it means bastard. Its quite a fitting name for Sasuke if you ask me but anyway... Okay, so review to find out what happens next!. P Next chapter double digits and I am very excited (also, a good chapter for ShikaIno fans!!). Till then!!**


	11. Chapter Ten: Plan Story

**A/N: Alright, here we are at chapter 10 (and finally I've reached double digits in this story!) Now, I was originally going to post this chapter tomorrow but I got bored waiting so here it is (aren't you all lucky?). So I also think this chapter is pretty uneventful but -shrugs- what must be written, must be written, so without further ado, disclaimer.**

**Ino: raindropdays does not own Naruto, the characters or the plot**

**A/N: true that! now on with the story **

* * *

"Really?" exclaimed Naruto as Ino made her offer. "You'll help me get Haruno?" Ino smiled at Naruto.

"Listen, Uzumaki," she said slyly, "I'm Sakura's best friend so I know her pretty well." Naruto spun around to face her and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah," he agreed. Ino giggled. Her plan was totally working. "So what do I need to do?"

"Alright, here's the secret," said Ino lowering her voice. Naruto leaned in to hear what the secret was. "It's called...being nice." Naruto froze for one, two, three seconds before shooting up angrily.

"Be nice?!" he shouted. "That's your secret." Ino shrugged, her temper rising. He was obviously not appreciating her advice.

"Yes," she replied, "Don't be cocky. Be nice to her and she'll like you." Naruto pondered her words. Was there _any _chance that she was right?

"Nice?" he questioned again.

"YES!" Ino exclaimed angrily, "Be NICE!" Naruto scowled and shook her off, turning and waving as he went.

"I'll think it over," he called as he left the grounds. He stopped and added "maybe" and then continued walking. Ino crossed her arms and shook her head. As long as Naruto played Mr. Too-Cool-To-Be-Nice, he would never get Sakura. She had opened her eyes and was watching the people leaving, wondering if Sakura had already left when she saw Shikamaru pass by. "Oh, Shikamaru!" she called chasing after him. Shikamaru saw Ino bounding towards him out of the corner of his eye and closed his eyes at her appearance.

"Please tell me this is a dream," he thought to himself, hunching over and continuing walking. As soon as Ino saw this she became angry at him and ran faster.

"Shikamaru!" she called more aggressively.

"A _bad_ dream..."

"Shikamaru!" Shikamaru heard the call one last time before he was tackled by the blonde girl. He sighed as she latched onto his back with her arms around his neck. "Why didn't you stop?" she snarled in his ear irritably.

"Uh, must not have heard you," Shikamaru shrugged which earned him a smack over the back of the head from Ino. He sighed as he rubbed the back of his head and the two left the grounds.

"I can't believe you!" Ino continued on. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Only a few more minutes and then her short attention span would take over and she would pick a new topic. "...you tell me you didn't hear me but I must have only been a few feet away..." Shikamaru sighed again. Any minute now there would be a new subject. "...and then you're not even happy when I jump on you!!"

"Honestly Ino, who would be happy if you jumped on them?" came a sudden voice from behind the 'couple'. Ino spun around and Shikamaru silently thanked god for the interruption. He then followed Ino's action to see Kiba and Hinata not to far away from them. "Yo, Shikamaru, having a problem?" asked Kiba winking at his friend. Shikamaru smiled nervously, careful not to catch Ino's eye. Kiba laughed at the look on his face and turned to Ino. "Now, what's wrong with you Ino?"

"Nothing..." she grumbled. There. She had finally let it go, and it had only taken a few minutes. Shikamaru knew her all too well; actually, maybe a little too well.

"Anyway," Kiba continued, "So Ino," he stepped closer to her and she inched back a little bit, "I saw you talking to Uzumaki; that desperate for a boyfriend?" At this comment, Ino punched Kiba hard.

"Kiba!" Hinata exclaimed as he stepped backwards.

"You...are...dead..." said Ino, malice dripping on each word. Shikamaru quickly stepped between the two.

"You know, you shouldn't have said that," he whispered to his friend who was now feeling his mouth for signs of blood. Kiba nodded to Shikamru.

"But it was kind of true..." replied Kiba after a moment. Ino heard the statement Kiba had made and immediately flared up again. She tried to hit him again but Shikamaru held her back.

"I'd leave now if I were you," he advised Kiba and Hinata as he held a struggling Ino back who was now shouting death threats at Kiba. Kiba snickered a little bit before taking off.

"Come on Hinata!" he called as he turned his back to Ino and Shikamaru. Hinata nodded, and after bowing quickly to Shikamaru and Ino, she left, following Kiba. Shikamaru waited a full thirty seconds before he let Ino go...and she struggled the whole time which made those thirty seconds _very _troublesome.

"You okay now?" he asked, letting her go and rubbing the back of his neck. Ino silently steamed glaring at the spot where Kiba had been standing a minute ago. Shikamaru sighed, silently wondering if he should bring up the question he was silently pondering. It might get him into trouble but...

"Hey Ino," he said.

"What?" she replied, still steaming from Kiba's rude comments.

"What was your conversation with Uzumaki about?"

Ino immediately flared up again, her eyes blazing with annoyance and anger. "For the last time, I am not that desperate for a boyfriend!" she shouted. Shikamaru sighed impatiently. Why did she always have to take things in such an offensive manner?

"That's not what I meant," he groaned, "I meant, what did you talk about?"

"Oh," said Ino surprised. Shikamaru shook his head. Why were women so troublesome? Ino took a deep breath to calm down before answering.

"We talked about uh, Sakura," she answered. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"You're setting them up?" he asked. Ino smiled and nodded triumphantly.

"Obviously!"

"You're crazy..."

It was Ino's turn to raise an eyebrow. "I'm crazy?" she repeated.

"Yeah...very crazy..." was all Shikamaru had to say to get Ino mad again.

"Why?" she exclaimed, "I'm doing my friend a _huge _favor by setting her up with Uzumaki. Plus, he's not really that bad of a guy, I actually happen to think he's kind of cute and well, he could be hot if he was my type, and hey, then again, he just might be my type, I mean sure, he has a cocky attitude but so do all the cool amazing hot guys at school, and then there's how he looks too! And you know what I think he would be my type that is if I wasn't setting him up with Sakura, but does she really deserve a hot guy like Uzumaki? You know I really don't know, I mean when we were in 5th grade she almost threw up on—" Shikamaru shook his head as Ino continued on and on.

"Your point?" he finally asked.

Ino stopped talking abruptly and crossed her arms over her chest. "My point is I'm doing my friend a favor."

Shikamaru shook his head again. "Ino, I sleep during most of class as you know, however, even I know that Sakura hates his guts, and I really don't blame her."

"Why?" asked Ino.

"We had this conversation before..." sighed Shikamaru.

"Is it because you might secretly be jealous that I might be in love with Uzumaki Naruto?" asked Ino dreamily.

Shikamaru shook his head for a third time. "Definitely not." Ino kicked him in the shin. "Ow!" exclaimed Shikamaru as he held his leg in pain. Why did this girl have to be so damn strong?

"Anyway," continued Ino sourly, "I'm setting them up because I can see that Uzumaki really likes her and Sakura needs a boyfriend. There, happy?"

"Not really," replied Shikamaru, his shin still hitting from being brutally abused by Ino. Ino flipped her hair in his face and walked on in front of him. "She's so troublesome," he thought as she got ahead of him, "The most troublesome girl I've _ever _met."

* * *

"Be nice..." Naruto muttered to himself as he stared at the clouds passing by. He sighed and shook his head before rolling over onto his side. He was lying on top of the school before class, watching the clouds go by and contemplating everything that had happened the previous day. The list looked something like this:

1) He had learned Tora's 'true' identity

2) He had met with Teme again and he still hadn't been even remotely recognized

And finally...

3) He had learned the one true secret to winning Haruno's heart

All of these facts could only lead him to shake his head again. Shock, anger and confusion all in one day was leading him to have an aftermath of annoyance. He watched another cloud sail past before jumping to his feet. He sort of wished that Tora or one of his flunkies would suddenly pop out of nowhere so he could take his anger out on something. He got the next best thing, maybe even better.

As he took the stairs back down into the building he saw _him _standing there, leaning against the wall and looking as cocky and conceited as ever. "Hey Teme!" Naruto shouted. The raven head didn't respond which led Naruto to become even more annoyed. "Uchiha-teme!" he shouted. This time, Sasuke had no choice to look up. This blond idiot had just insulted his family.

"Excuse you?" he asked harshly. Naruto smirked. He had finally gotten the idiot's attention. He was about to shout something back when Sasuke suddenly sighed and stood up straight, heading for what appeared to be his class. "Whatever," he said as he turned his back on Naruto for the third time. Naruto was about to shout to Sasuke again when he heard a high pitched female voice behind him.

"Stop right there!" shouted a girl with pigtails. She was surrounded by another girl with long brown hair and one with short blonde hair. They were each staring at Naruto maliciously.

"What?" asked Naruto in his usual conceited tone.

"How dare you address Uchiha Sasuke that way!" she shouted angrily. Naruto stepped back before responding.

"I'll address him any damn way I want!" he retorted hotly. The girl's eyes blazed from dark brown to red at his statement and Naruto stepped back again.

"How dare you!" she shouted.

"Hey!" called Ino as she suddenly came running in front of Naruto. She shot him a dirty look as she stopped in front of him and turned to the girls.

"What do you want reject?" asked the pigtails girl. Ino clenched her fist as she tried very hard not to kill the girl for calling her such a name. "What's wrong?" mocked the pigtails girl, "Remembering a bad experience?"

"Go away," said Ino darkly. The girl smirked, turned to her two 'flunkies', nodded and then the three of them were off. Once they were out of sight, Naruto _had _to open his big mouth again.

"Woah, who were they?" he asked in amazement. Ino turned to him angrily.

"What did I tell you about insulting Uchiha Sasuke?" she asked exasperatedly. Naruto quickly held up his hands in protest.

"Don't tell me you're going to suddenly attack me like those fangirls just for calling him a teme!" he exclaimed. Ino kicked him in the shin, just as she had done to Shikamaru the previous day.

"Don't call me a fangirl!" she shouted. He nodded more out of fear of more pain than agreement.

"Fine," he said. "Now who were they?" he asked annoyed.

Ino sighed. "They were, as you adequately stated, Sasuke's fangirls, and he has about fifty of them; just in our class." Naruto scowled.

"I'm telling you Uzumaki," said Ino casually as she started walking towards her class, "Sasuke's a pretty lucky guy. Almost every girl in the class likes him. And that includes, Sakura." Naruto's eyes shot wide open when he head what Ino had said.

"What?!" he exclaimed.

"That's right," replied Ino, "But don't worry when it comes to personality, you both are equally _not_ boyfriend material."

"Hey! That's not true!" exclaimed Naruto defensively; "I'm a thousand times better than that teme!" Ino rolled her eyes.

"Sure..." She began walking towards class with Naruto behind her shouting off random reasons why he was better than Sasuke.

The two actually arrived to class on time and as usual Kakashi was late. "Where's Kakashi?" asked Naruto as they entered the room.

"Late," responded Ino as she headed over to her desk.

"He's late?" exclaimed Naruto. Ino sighed. Naruto had been late every day so he had never actually experienced the famous delay-teacher, Kakashi, making his equally famous delayed arrival. Naruto walked over to his desk and slammed his bag down. "Teme..." he thought angrily as he took his hated English book out. He suddenly glanced at Sakura over at her desk. She had her head buried in another book as usual. "And she _likes _that teme!" he thought in outrage, "How?!" Without another thought he strode over to Sakura with complete intent of making her his.

* * *

**A/N: I feel so bad! The event I had planed to happen in chapter EIGHT still hasn't happened yet!! With the way things are going right now this story might prove to be longer than expected! 0-0 I hope people think that's a good thing out there!! Now, I have a really important question but I must wait until next chapter to ask it... -sigh- Quick updates coming up and I've decided to do another deal like I had on chapter 8 (next update expected in 5 days but every review means a day earlier for chapter 11)! Alright, so next time, Naruto gets into even MORE trouble on every aspect of his life. Review to find out! Bye bye! :D**


	12. Chapter Eleven: Rejection Story

(_important questions in final author's note at end of chapter so for your own viewing pleasure please read!!_)

**A/N: I'm so excited we're here at chapter eleven!**

**Sasuke: why? Because you didn't know you could count past ten?**

**A/N: Okay, you know what? Just because this chapter was supposed to be about you but its not doesn't mean you have to go all gung ho on me...**

**Sasuke: whatever...**

**A/N: geez...anyway, Sasuke does bring up a good point. This story may be longer than expected which means...about 19 chapters maybe + prologue and epilogue (already decided there's gonna be an epilogue because I don't know...it had an prologue didn't it!!)? Alright, so, on with the chapter! But first, Sasuke since you're already here, disclaim...**

**Sasuke: why should I? When you won't even write one little chapter about me, and after all I'm a much better main character than that blond idiot Naruto, so I don't really see why—**

**A/N: You will get your freakin chapter later (probably chapter 13 since everything's suffering from a two chapter delay)! Now disclaim!!**

**Sasuke: raindropdays just wishes she owned Naruto, the plot, the characters and me. But she doesn't, so in some pathetic attempt to cope with her feelings of loss she writes fanficion.**

**A/N: -no comment-**

* * *

Naruto had a smirk painted on his face as he made his way down the aisle of desks towards Sakura. Shikamaru saw him out of the corner of his eye and sighed, turning to Ino in the process. "If he does something stupid and she finds out, she's going to kill you..." he said in a complaining tone. Ino rolled her eyes at him. She was sitting on his desk with her legs crossed, watching Sakura and Naruto from what she thought was a safe distance with a smile on her face. This was the moment of truth.

Kiba, who was currently involved in a deep conversation about flees with Shino also saw Naruto pass his desk and looked up. Since when had the blond decided to be on time? He was watching Naruto, puzzling over the thought when he realized where Naruto was going. "Of course..." he said under his breath. His eyes drifted over to where Ino and Shikamaru were. Yup, Shikamaru looked annoyed and Ino looked evilly happy. This was definitely Ino's doing. "I knew it," he said out loud.

"Knew what?" inquired Shino at his friend's strange and random comment. Kiba shook his head and turned back to his friend. Shino had a usual monotone look on his face while Hinata looked worried and confused at the same time. "You guys keep watching," he said smiling and crossing his arms, "And you'll see a very angry Sakura very soon." Hinata brought her hand to her mouth.

"Why?" she asked, worried. Kiba laughed.

"Don't be worried," he said, "Its just one of Ino's half-baked ideas about to be put into action." Hinata's eyes wandered to Ino. Her eyes then followed to the place where Ino was looking and she saw Sakura. She was troubled for a moment, not knowing exactly what Kiba had meant until she saw who was approaching Sakura with a very snide smirk on his face and his hands in his pocket.

"Uzumaki..." she whispered quietly.

"Bingo," said Kiba turning back to the pair.

"Interesting," remarked Shino also watching the scene that was about to unfold. "Want to make bets?" he asked.

Kiba scowled. "There's no chance for anything except for rejection, I'm not that stupid!" Shino shrugged. He had to admit, his friend was right.

Naruto had other thoughts though. During the short time in which he had spent walking from his desk to Sakura's desk he had devised a plan. A plan that would surely counter everything Ino had said about him. _Everything._

Striding up the desk he silently stood there waiting for her to acknowledge him. Sakura flipped through her book angrily. She had seen him coming across the room and knew this was coming but still dreading it all the same. She glanced out of the corners of her eyes and saw that most eyes in the class were on her...and him. Mixed feelings of anger, hatred and annoyance ran through her as she flipped the page in her book aggressively. Why did _she_ have to be the one Uzumaki had decided to stalk on his first day? She sighed and glanced up. He was still there, and the people were still watching. She had no choice. She would have to confront him.

"Yes?" she asked, putting down the book and looking up at him.

"Hey Haruno," he said just like any other day, "So do you want to go out with me?"

"This again?" thought Sakura annoyed, "When will he just give up already?"

"No," she answered coolly, "Now if you excuse me..." She tried to pick up her book again but Uzumaki put his hand on it preventing her from picking it up. Her face shot up at him angrily but he was closer than she had anticipated and found her face just inches from his. Again with that attitude...

"Give me a chance?" he asked quietly. For a few short moments Sakura's heart was pounding in her chest for a reason she didn't know and she forgot where she was. Finally she remembered and regained her composure. She pushed him away angrily with a blush on her face.

"What is wrong with you?" she demanded as he stumbled backwards. "Asking me out day after day and thinking I'd actually say yes? You must be crazy!" She shouted at him outraged.

"Looks like your plan is crashing and burning," whispered Shikamaru to Ino. By now, the most of the class had turned to watch Sakura and Naruto.

"Well you might as well give me a chance," said Naruto coolly, "I mean, I'm a thousand times better than that teme, Uchiha." There were a couple gasps and "oohs" that could be heard throughout the room.

"Now, that's interesting," remarked Kiba, watching with a look of liveliness on his face. Hinata still had a look of worry on her face but for which person, she could not tell. Shino didn't respond.

Sakura looked at Naruto completely surprised. "What does that have to do with anything?" she retorted quickly.

Naruto scowled, jamming his hands back in his pockets and looking off angrily. "If you can like a complete ice bastard like him than you can definitely fall head over heals for a guy like me," he stated plainly.

More "oohs" and gasps echoed throughout the room. The whole class was watching now. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" replied Sakura turning bright red, "And anyway, it's none of your business!"

"Listen Haruno; give up on your dream of being with the ice bastard. I'm a thousand times better. Plus, you probably don't have a chance with him since the only thing he seems to be concerned about is himself. And his attitude is about the worst thing I've ever seen next to his conceited face..."

Sakura was getting madder and madder as Naruto went on. She couldn't believe he even had the nerve to criticize her love life, and even more, to decide _for_ her that _he_ was her perfect match. She smoothly got to her feet, silencing Naruto. He put on a smirk as she got up, completely convinced that she had finally seen the 'error of her ways' and that she was going to admit how wrong she had been to fall in love with a teme like Uchiha and fall straight into his arms.

Sakura opened her eyes wide at Naruto as she got to her feet. He was just about an arms length away. "Uzumaki," she breathed.

"Yeah?" asked Naruto conceitedly enough.

_SLAP!_

Sakura's hand contacted with Naruto's left cheek hard enough to knock him off balance and to fall on to the empty desk behind him. "You are the most self absorbed jerk I have ever had the unpleasant fortune of meeting!" Sakura shouted furiously. "I wish I'd never even met you!" And with that she angrily stomped out the room.

The class' eyes remained on Naruto for another moment before returning to their own activities. Naruto picked himself off the desk and returned to his desk, sitting down silently. There were no more words to say.

Shikamaru turned to Ino who had been silent throughout the entire encounter. "Yeah Ino," he said, "You're dead."

* * *

"Yamanaka!" Naruto shouted once they were out of class. Ino turned to him and put her hands on her hips.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"What—you—Haruno slapped me!" he exclaimed, unable to make a comprehendible sentence.

"Yes," said Ino tiredly, "I saw. Believe me, the _entire_ class saw." Naruto cursed under his breath as he strode closer to her. "What?" asked Ino.

"Fix it," he snarled. Ino gave him a look as though he was crazy.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" she asked, "Sakura hates your guts now, and to be completely honest, it's your own fault. What did I tell you? I told you to be nice, not get her completely furious at you!"

"How could I help it when she likes a complete teme like Uchiha?" exclaimed Naruto. Ino sighed. The poor boy did not know how to win the heart of a woman.

"Uzumaki," she sighed, "I'm telling you one thing: insulting Sasuke will not help you win Sakura's heart no matter how much you slight his reputation." Naruto silently cursed again under his breath. "Now," continued Ino, "I'd apologize to Haruno if I were you."

Naruto almost laughed. "Are you serious?" he choked out finally.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Yes," she replied.

"No way," retorted Naruto. Ino shrugged.

"Well, with that attitude, and I'm telling you this for a fact, you sound no better than Sasuke," and with that she walked away leaving Naruto to ponder this interesting thought.

* * *

"Neji! Neji! Where did he get to?" Tenten asked herself as she walked down the senior's hallway. She was peeking into classes eagerly, looking for where the pragmatic boy had gotten to. She turned another corner anxiously hoping to find him in their usual spot for eating lunch but he wasn't there either. She frowned. Where was he? Another thought suddenly popped into her head as to where he might be. "The gym!" she exclaimed, and with that she was off.

Neji was indeed sitting on one of the benches in the gym, contemplating a very deep thought when he saw Tenten bounding towards him. "Neji!" she called as she saw him. He nodded silently before returning to gazing into space. "What are you doing?" asked Tenten as she got closer to him. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Thinking," he replied briskly. Tenten dropped down next to him.

"About what?" she asked. Neji turned to look at her wondering if he should explain it to her or not. He was thinking for a quite a while but she was smiling at him nonetheless, waiting patiently for him to tell her what was on his mind so with another sigh he began to explain what was troubling him.

"I was contemplating the actions of the 2nd years," he replied. Tenten nodded. Neji was on the student council so he was often plagued with the problems of those junior to them.

"What did they do now?" she asked.

"There seems to be a new boy in class 2-B who has been causing quite a bit of trouble," answered Neji.

"Gang trash," muttered Tenten. Neji continued.

"He's gotten into a few fights already, one with a minor gang and the other with Tora." Tenten's eyes lit up at this.

"Tora?" she exclaimed. Even though they were one year senior to the boy and most of his good-for-nothing followers everyone in the 3rd year class still knew of him and his infamous deeds. "The new kid got into a fight with Tora?" Neji silently nodded once before going on.

"It appears, he is on Hebi's hit list as well." Tenten's jaw nearly dropped off of her face. _Who was this kid?_ "Surprised?" asked Neji. Tenten could barely nod. Hell yeah she was surprised! New kids usually never even made it to Hebi's hit list; they were just 'removed'.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" asked Tenten finally getting over her shock.

"I want to meet this kid," said Neji getting to his feet. Tenten bolted to his feet.

"You're not going to—" she started but Neji cut her off.

"You don't think I can win?" he snickered. Tenten closed her mouth and smiled an evil smile at him.

"Of course you'll win Neji, you always do..."

* * *

**A/N: (I enjoyed this chapter immensely!) So, who was more out of line this chapter? Sakura or Naruto? I don't know, you guys tell me. Anyway, I guess this leaves off to what will probably happen next chapter and unfortunately this also leads to another chapter delay (haha! TAKE THAT SASUKE!), so the length of the story grows. I'm also sorting out a few main problems in my head, mostly: **

**(IMPORTANT QUESTION) should Naruto and Sakura get together by the end of the story or not AND should there be a sequel? **

**If you guys care about the outcome of either questions please post your thoughts. Otherwise I may make the "wrong" decisions and make many fans angry at me... Alright, so that's enough of this and see you in chapter twelve!**


	13. Chapter Twelve: Decision Story

**A/N: Well, I feel completely _terrible_. I thought I'd already published this chapter a while back and when I come back to edit it I find that I haven't posted it yet. I am SO SORRY everybody, so I hope you enjoy this chapter after my mini-hiatus. Expect chapter 13 soon!**

**Disclaimer: raindropdays does not own Naruto, or the plot, or the characters. She does own Hebi though (but she can't figure out if thats a _good_ thing or not...)**

* * *

"Well Tora, that was unexpected," said one of Tora's most trusted gang members. He was standing just a few feet away from the red-head, arms crossed and gazing out at the night sky with a look of constant vigilance and anger on his face.

"Who knew that some moron would tip off your father," continued another one of Tora's followers. He was also standing a few feet away from Tora. His eyes were colored dark and harsh, the color of the fleeting sunset, and his mouth was curved into a wicked smile. He turned to Tora. "Bad luck, ne?" he asked.

Tora was staring out at the sky darkly. He was obviously deep in thought but of what, no one could be sure. He let out a sigh before addressing the two members' comments. "Uzumaki," he spat the name with disgust and hatred while still keeping the charm and elegance in his rich voice. "...was..." he trailed off.

"Lucky," laughed the first member who had spoken; the one with the dark brown hair and vicious eyes. There was a rumbling of laughter throughout the few members circled around Tora.

"No..." said Tora quietly. The laughter stopped. All eyes and ears were focused towards the young gang leader. "It was not luck that someone tipped off my father." Tora turned to the member who had been most silent throughout their meeting and adjusted his glasses. "Any ideas?" he asked the man. The dark haired man looked up at him about to answer but Tora brushed him off and continued talking. "The one who tipped off my father," he said, speaking more to himself than the gang, "_She_ will and must be punished."

The dark eyed man raised an eyebrow. "We've already made the deal Tora, on the first day," he reminded the red-head. Tora seemed to be thinking for a moment before harshly answering.

"Fuku took advantage of that moment," he said, "Poorly, wouldn't you say?" There was another echo of short lived laughter before Tora continued, "Nonetheless, you are right Ren, we do indeed have a deal with the witch," he turned back to the dark haired follower, "A deal that will not be broken." There was a murmur of agreement as Tora looked up at the dark haired follower, his glasses catching a slight glare of a reflection in the pale moonlight, "Remind her of that, will you," a smile broke out on his lips, "Kamiya?" Kamiya nodded obediently to Tora.

"You have my word," he said dutifully. Tora's smile widened.

"Excellent," he said, his voice as velvety soft as ever, "Then let the games begin."

* * *

"Apologize, apologize, apologize...apologize?!" Naruto was echoing the words to himself, at first silently and then growing in volume more and more with rage. That damned Ino had already gotten him into trouble, could this truly be the way to winning fair Sakura's heart? He scoffed. Was his amazingly good looks and suave behavior not enough? He sighed and glanced at his side. There was no happy, beautiful, cheery Sakura parading around at his side so obviously the answer to his question was a simple, flat-out, heart wrenching: no. He bit his lower lip as he pondered his next move. To apologize, or not to apologize, that was the question. He shook his head imaging both sequences and their outcomes.

_Choice Number One: Apologize_

_"Haruno!"_

_"What do you want you idiot? Don't you know I hate your guts and wish you would just go and—"_

Naruto stopped in mid-thought. Why had he made Sakura such a violent and angry person in his fantasy? No, no, that wouldn't do at all. He decided he would have to change that. He let out a sigh and started the fantasy again.

_Choice Number One: Apologize (Redo)_

_"Haruno!" he shouted bounding down the hall towards her. She turned abruptly, her eyes focused on his face._

_"Yes?" she asked curiously, and sweetly as well. Naruto snickered._

_"Sakura, I'm sorry for—for—"_

Naruto stopped again. What was he sorry for again? His eyebrows scrunched together as he desperately tried to think of what he had down wrong. Nothing, at least that's what he could deduce from replaying the 'previous day's events in his head. He shook his head, bothered by the whole thought and decided to skip choice number one and go to choice number two for it was far too difficult to imagine.

_Choice Number Two: Don't Apologize_

_"Haruno!" he called, bounding down the hall towards her. She turned slowly at first but upon seeing him, spun eagerly._

_"Yes?" she asked curiously, "What is it?"_

_Naruto smiled. "Haruno, will you go out with me?" he asked as cocky as ever with his usual trademark and very charming (at least in his opinion) smile. Sakura broke into happy tears and threw herself into his arms._

_"Oh Uzumaki!" she cried, hugging him tightly. He smiled as he held her tight. "I'm so glad you asked me!" Naruto snickered._

_"Well, I was going to apologize but..." he started but Sakura stopped him._

_"Apologize?" she asked, completely caught off guard, "Don't be silly!" she exclaimed, "I should have known that Sasuke was an ice bastard all along. You have shown me the error of my ways and now I am eternally yours!" And with this very true statement Sakura pushed her lips to Naruto's and he returned the kiss very eagerly._

_And miles away Sasuke was hit by a bus and Tora was eaten by a lion..._

_Ding! Ding! Ding!_

"Ugh, damn bell!" Naruto exclaimed as it so rudely knocked him out of his wild fantasy, "Always causing so many problems." He stood up straight from leaning against the wall and began to head off to class. He let out a sigh when he reached the door to his class going over a short review of his fantasy in his head. The one where he had _not_ apologized had obviously ended better than when he had so....

He made up his mind as he opened the door. Of course he wouldn't apologize; Sakura would see the error of her ways soon enough and when she did, he would be waiting, arms open and lips puckered.

* * *

"Did you hear?"

"I did!"

"You guys are talking about the Hyuga right?"

"Obviously!"

"Oh my god! There he is!"

Neji pushed through the fangirls who were now swooning at his very presence in an annoyed fashion with Tenten eagerly trailing behind him. "So," she started as they turned the corner heading for the gym. They had been going there everyday at lunch ever since Neji's decision to fight Uzumaki. "When's the big fight?" Neji raised an eyebrow to her.

"Excited?" he asked in his usual all knowing voice.

Tenten's eyes flared with excitement. "Of course, I'm always excited when you fight," she replied plainly. Neji gave a small "hm," in response and proceeded through the doors and to the changing rooms. He stopped a few feet to the door and turned to Tenten who was still but a few inches behind him. He raised an eyebrow again and she smiled back up at him. "Yes?" she asked innocently.

"I'm going to change now," he said flatly.

"Uh-huh," said Tenten.

"In a changing room," continued Neji.

"Really?"

"In a _guy's_ changing room."

"Oh."

Neji continued on and took scarcely two steps before he heard Tenten shuffling behind him once more. He sighed and turned back to face her. "Didn't you hear what I just said?" he asked.

"Always," Tenten smiled. Neji paused a moment, choosing his next words carefully.

"Then....why...why are you still following me?" he asked slowly.

"Why not?" asked Tenten simply. Neji seemed ready to pounce on her for her feigned stupidity. There was a long silence in which Neji continued to glare at Tenten and Tenten continued to smile back happily.

"When people change they take off their clothes," he finally said.

"I know," replied Tenten. Neji eyed her suspiciously before turning back towards the changing rooms.

"So go away," he said.

"But what if I don't want to?" asked Tenten, pouting slightly. Neji's jaw almost dropped out of his mouth before turning on Tenten and fiercely accusing her of the unspeakable, at least in his eyes.

"Are you saying you _want to see me naked_?" he accused, his cool façade disintegrating quickly. Tenten smiled and let out a small chuckle.

"Oh Neji, I never said anything of the sort," she laughed. Neji's face quickly turned beat red and he blushed, something he rarely did which earned another laugh from Tenten. Neji's eyes darkened quickly after the moment of shock had passed.

"Just kidding Neji," Tenten said through laughs. He looked at her crossly before uttering an annoyed sound and turning for the changing rooms. Tenten let out a sigh, placing her hands on her hips as he walked away. "When will he admit that he just likes me?" she wondered silently before turning to change into her own gi.

He met her out on the gym floor just as he always did after about five minutes of changing. Tenten was never the type of girl who took long to change and Neji liked that. He didn't feel troubled like he did with other girls who just had to take hours and hours of preparation just to go out. He sighed. But then again, none of them ever fought him like Tenten did...and none of them could roundhouse kick like she could either. Tenten exited her changing room wearing a white fight uniform differing from Neji's in only terms of gender. Her hair had been released from their usual captive buns and instead hung in two pigtails that barely reached her lower neck. She smiled at him smugly and he, in return, merely nodded. She joined him in the center and took a usual stance and the fight began.

The fight was over quickly as it usually was with Neji about to strike a final blow to Tenten's chest. She stood an arm's length from him, breathing hard and turned the other way as he stood behind her, his left palm aimed at her back. The two had stopped a moment before the execution and there was a moment of silence before Tenten let out a groan and fell to a sitting position. Neji let out a small 'hm' and crossed his arms over his shoulder. Tenten noticed his awkward reaction and turned to glance up at him. "Bored?" she asked a little out of breath. He shrugged.

"Never when I'm with you," he thought silently but he could not force the words to leave his mind. Tenten smiled, bounding to her feet, her hands quickly flying to her hair to tie them back up in their rightful position as they had fallen quite a bit during the fight.

"Well, you're ready," she said.

"Ready?" he reiterated, his serious eyes lifting for a moment.

"Yeah Neji, you're definitely ready to take on Uzumaki," said Tenten finally snapping her left bun back up and moving on to her right. Neji didn't respond which led Tenten to continue talking. "So how do we get the invitation to him?" she asked snapping her right bun down. Neji turned to look away from her for a moment as if thinking over her question. Tenten smiled already knowing the answer. Student council member Neji would _never_ be caught dead making his own offers so of course it would fall to....

"I'd like you to inform him," said Neji finally. Tenten looked at him suddenly very serious and for a moment he looked a taken back, a response that only Tenten could cause him to have. "If you would..." he added quietly to which Tenten laughed.

"Just kidding again!" she said poking him lightly. "You're too easy to fool," she sang lightly, "For a genius." He scoffed at her as she accepted his request and then watched as she turned on her heal to change over. He couldn't help but let out a sigh as she disappeared from view because well, that just happened when him and Tenten got together.

* * *

**A/N: ok, so a few things. First, the name of the this chapter. it was SO HARD TO NAME! I don't even _like_ its name yet!! I realize now, thats why I hadn't published it yet...okay, so sorry about the name but it had to be published! I liked the "day-dream" sequence by Naruto too much (the inner working of Naruto's mind never cease to amaze me....)! XD and Second, I loved the NejiTen in this chapter...haha, it made me laugh, re-reading it all these months later for grammer/spelling errors. I bet you I missed some too cause I was laughing so much, so yes, I hope you enjoyed that as well. Let's see, I've emphasized NejiTen, ShikaIno and SakuNaru (yea, all those times she tries to kill him _does_ count) which means I still need to do some HinaKiba and SasuSaku (slight) so look for those! I promise they will come soon!!!! Alright, so I'm done talking and once again I'm so sorry for not updating sooner!!!! Please remember to R&R and have a great day!**


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Verification Story

**A/N: Oh my....It seems I last updated this story in November of 2008. I think I officially owe everyone an update and an apology. I hope you all haven't forgotten about this story (or thought the author died....). I think this is a decent chapter and even though it doesn't feel like it, it's my longest chapter by about 500 words. Longer than chapter twelve by about 1,000 words so I hope this makes up for the very, very long and unexpected hiatus. Enjoy.**

**Tenten: raindropdays does not own any of the Naruto characters or the story, or the plot. She does own Tora, whom she has an unnatural obsession with.**

******A/N: Shush you! **

* * *

Tenten drummed her fingers on her desk impatiently as she casually swung her legs back and forth to the beat of a song only she could hear. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at a certain practical, white-eyed boy two seats down from her who was staring perfectly at the chalk board as usual. How could he _stand_ just sitting and listening to these lectures for hours at a time? She couldn't understand. The thought that maybe Hyuuga Neji was a robot had crossed her mind many times but eventually she brushed them off and giggled to herself lightly.

"Something funny?" asked Gai-sensei turning to Tenten suddenly. Just a minute ago he had been so focused on some rant about multivariable equations (something about c + z 3 or something like that), too caught up in his own strange mathematical thoughts to be heard by any of them and now suddenly he had heard her giggling? She eyed him strangely for a second before answering.

"No sensei," she replied, "Not at all!" Gai nodded once, believing her and then returned to the chalkboard. After all, even though Tenten was sometimes _distracted_ during class she was a good student none-the-less. Tenten went back to drumming her fingers on the desk and watching the seconds go by on the large clock to the right of the door. Only a few more minutes to go before she'd be free.

Well, almost free.

She still had to take care of Neji's business. She bit her lip, briefly wondering if whether or not she should pull another stunt on the boy but decided against it after remembering how she had nearly given him a heart-attack twice already that morning. "Well, serves him right," she thought to himself as the final bell rang and Gai hurried to finish up his lecture that no one except for maybe his 'star pupil', Rock Lee and possibly Neji had been listening to. "After all, he should just admit that he likes me! Then I wouldn't have to almost kill him..."

Tenten got to her feet and grabbed her bag, sliding her supplies off the desk and into her bag. She walked up to Neji's desk. "When?" she asked simply. He eyed her, seemingly thinking for a moment before answering.

"Now." Now. That was always how it was with him wasn't it? She shook her head and then turned to leave.

"I'll see what I can do," she called over her shoulder as she left the room. Neji continued to stare at the place where she had just been as Lee and Gai both snuck on him from opposing sides.

"So young Neji, have you caught the beautiful flower of class 3-D yet?" Gai exclaimed clamping his hand down on Neji's left shoulder.

"How fairs with Tenten?" asked Lee appearing at Neji's right side. Neji sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. Why did everyone seem to ask those questions nowadays? He stopped himself. Wait, no one actually talked like Gai-sensei...so he guessed that no one really asked _that_ question. He gave a simple "hm" and then grabbed his bag and left the room heading for the gym.

"What can we infer from that?" asked Lee turning to his lifelong mentor.

"Only that Neji, despite his composed exterior, is a very shy young man," replied Gai placing his hand on his chin and closing his eyes. Lee agreed with a nod and the two stood in silence.

* * *

Tenten raced through the halls on what she knew was a fighter's high. She loved watching Neji fight, or fighting herself, and knowing that she was about to give the invitation for a fight that would happen in just a few moments made her excited. She smiled as she almost knocked down another 3rd year blond girl who was in her class. That one had spent the entire afternoon staring at Neji. Now if only she had hit her a little harder..... Tenten stopped running when she reached the second years' hallway and looked up and down for the classroom that Uzumaki would be in. The smile faded from her face as she laid eyes on it; class 2-B. She took in a deep breath as she remembered the primary reason she was there. Gang trash. No laughing matter. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned up against the wall as she watched the silver haired teacher dismiss his class. She would catch Uzumaki as he left, give him the invitation and then leave.

"That's it for today, you're dismissed class," she heard the teacher say and a moment later she watched the class shuffling to their feet. She scanned the class casually looking for someone she didn't recognize. An outsider, a foreigner to their school, the new boy. Her eyes fell on the one she would soon be challenging; she didn't recognize him at all.

"Perfect," she said under her breath, "Just perfect." He matched all the characteristics of a gang member: arrogant attitude, scars running up and down his body and a thin piece of fabric tied around his forehead. She chewed her lip as she watched him approach a girl in the first row with strawberry colored hair. To her interest, the girl gave him the cold shoulder, got to her feet and walked out. As she passed by, Tenten recognized her as Haruno Sakura, whom she had met a year prior. She would have tapped her on the shoulder to talk to her but there were other matters at hand to take care of. She turned back to watch Uzumaki leave the room.

He left the room casually. The sensei was eyeing him as he left, probably for some stunt he had pulled earlier that day. Uzumaki was about to walk past Tenten without even noticing her when she casually tapped him on the shoulder. To Tenten's surprise, it had absolutely no effect on him. She stood there with her mouth wide open as he continued walking past her and straight down the hall. From what she could hear, he seemed to be muttering to himself, something about rejection and "the ultimate resistance..." But how had he not noticed her tapping him? And she had been all ready to face him; give him the threat in a cool nonchalant tone and now nothing. She took another moment to snap out of her temporary shock and stood straight up, a look of annoyance clearly depicted on her usually snide face.

"Uzumaki!" she called to him. He stopped walking and turned to face her arrogantly with a look of even more annoyance than Tenten had.

"What?" he asked, obviously pissed off that some random chick had just disrupted his formulating for the ultimate plan to win the heart of Haruno Sakura.

"I've got a challenge for you," Tenten said smirking a little bit at how short the blond's fuse was. It was surely going to be easy for Neji to take him out.

"I don't fight girls," replied Naruto turning away from her and trying to wave her off. Tenten looked slightly shocked. That was, what was the word—_unexpected_—especially from a gang member. Still Tenten had a mission to fulfill and she had absolutely no time to be shocked or impressed or whatever strange state of mind she was in at the moment.

"I'm not your opponent," she replied coolly. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"So some guy got you to come down here and challenge me to a fight. Wow, some respect he has for you," said Naruto being a little crueler than usual do to his own state of affairs. Tenten's temper flared and at the next moment she had successfully landed a kick to the side of his head which knocked him to the ground. Naruto, who had not been expecting such a move from the girl was caught completely off guard and could only stare in shock as she stood over him with a death glare etched into her face.

"Don't insult him," she hissed angrily. Naruto smiled slightly. So the girl was talking about a good fighter, was she? In that case, this might be the perfect way for him to work out some of his anger issues. Naruto got to his feet and rubbed his left cheek where the girl had just slammed him with her foot, eyeing her all the time as he did so.

"I'll decide whether or not to insult him after I've fought and won," replied Naruto, his eyes still locked with Tenten's.

"Then I guess you'll never be making your decision," said Tenten smartly which amused Naruto. So this guy was _really _good.

Ignoring her remark he continued on, "When's the fight?"

"Now."

* * *

Naruto stood on top of the school, his arms crossed over his chest, eyeing the grounds of the school. Somehow, in less than fifteen minutes, half of the school had learned that an epic fight between Uzumaki Naruto, the great, and some other guy, Hyuga Neji would be taking place in the gym in about twenty minutes. At least, that's how it was going down in his mind. Naruto couldn't help but think that that brunette bun girl had had something to do with the sudden publicity but he didn't mind. After all, he preferred the large crowd; more people to watch this famous Hyuga fall. Naruto frowned when the thought crossed his mind. Hyuga; hadn't he noticed the name before? He shook it off when he remembered the approaching fight and decided that it was about time to head to the gym where, as usual, he would make short work of his opponent and gain the cheers and adoring love of his many fans.

As he turned to leave the roof, he didn't notice that the raven headed boy whom he had lately taken an interest in was leaving the school, uninterested in the battle.

The walk to the gym was long; longer than usual. Naruto ignored the stares and glares he got, most of which were from the teme's fangirls. Naruto shook his head slightly when he passed the pigtailed girl, that one, above all the others, was the most annoying.

The doors to the gym were already open as he stepped in and just as he had predicted there was a large crowd gathered to watch the great defeat of the genius Hyuga (at least that's what would happen in his eyes). Naruto surveyed the crowd shortly before his eyes fell on he who must be his opponent. White eyes of cool ferocity stared at him from the center of the fight ring and it seemed to Naruto that somehow he could see straight through him. Quite frankly, it kind of freaked him out. Still, Naruto couldn't afford to let this moment of weakness overtake him and so he stared back at the boy with his trademark smirk. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the fighter chick with the brunette buns as well. She seemed to be talking to his opponent about something or other but to be quite honest, Naruto really wasn't that interested. He took a few steps towards the ring as spectators turned to watch him approach.

"There he is..."

"I wonder if he knows what he's getting himself into?"

"Hyuga will make short work of him, I'm sure!"

Naruto scoffed at the insane rumors that these people were spouting. How could it even be remotely possible that this upperclassman would beat him? Still, he appeared to be somewhat of a decent fighter, Naruto had to admit as he reached the edge of the circle. Using the stares, he climbed up to stand on the raised stone platform that stood about three feet higher than the rest of the gym floor. He casually shifted to take off his jacket as Neji turned to face him. Suddenly the entire gym fell silent as pure malice echoed between the two fighter's stares.

"Uzumaki?" called Neji questioningly. Naruto nodded once to signify that Neji had indeed challenged the right guy. Neji scoffed at Naruto as he stepped forwards, closer to the center of the circle. "Your recent behavior has been deemed unacceptable," he began, his eyes closed nonchalantly. A few girls in the first couple of rows around the ring swooned at his words. Naruto almost laughed when he saw the fighter chick throw them a nasty look. "As president of the third year class, it is my duty to put you in your place. Gang trash will not be tolerated at this institution." Naruto jeered, disrespectfully, which to his surprise earned him a few shouts of anger from the crowd.

"You sound like Kaze," said Naruto rudely. Neji had no comment, but instead, simply remained staring at Naruto with eyes, potent enough to strike him dead.

"That is the reason I have asked you here to fight you today," finished Neji. "From your appearance I have deduced that you accept my challenge. Is this the case?"

"Obviously," replied Naruto.

"Very well then," remarked Neji," Shall we began?"

Naruto eyed his opponent for a moment. He had to admit the guy had class, asking to begin and everything. But still, he couldn't see how if the guy fought fairly that he would have even an inkling of a chance at beating him. He was unbeatable and he was going to make sure that this Hyuga guy remembered it for a very, very long time after their match today.

Both stood at opposite ends of the circle, eyeing each other with contempt. A thick tension spread between them and out throughout the crowd. Neji took up his usual stance to fight, ushering to Naruto that he was ready and as a gesture of courtesy for Naruto to make the first move. Naruto smirked at him widely and glanced towards the audience. All eyes were perched on Hyuga. Naruto narrowed his eyes. Alright, this was his chance; time to show these guys who the real winner was; who the real great fighter of this school was.

Naruto raised his arms to fight and without another word, launched himself towards the white-eyed opponent. Expecting to easily collide with his head, Naruto's hand slowed down and seemed to hesitate for a moment as it neared its expected point of collision. However, Neji was a skilled fighter and as a result, easily dodged the blow, catching Naruto off guard and effectively flipping him over. Naruto landed on his back with a loud crack, staring up at the ceiling somewhat blankly.

"The rules," said Neji simply as he stared down at Naruto coldly, "are simple. If one fighter can no longer retaliate or is knocked out of the ring the opponent is victorious." Naruto jumped back to his feet and took a look around the gym. A few people were smirking at him as though he were child being taught a lesson by their parent. He turned to glare back at Neji. "If you wish to continue this fight than those will be our rules here tonight. Or you can simply repent for your recent actions and we can go home. Choose now." Neji's voice was commanding and strong. But there was no way in hell that Naruto was going to give up. His glare slowly faded and turned to that of a sneer. "Oh?" asked Neji, coldly surprised, "You still have the spirit to smirk at me? After being humiliated so simply?"

"I'm just getting warmed up."

* * *

Sakura was on her way out when she saw the crowd of people huddled around the outside of the gym. Intrigued by their misplaced appearance she made her way over to them to ask why they were there. However as she neared she realized that she wouldn't be getting a valid answer from anyone. They all seemed to be excitedly jabbering about something which she could not wrap herself around.

"...and did you hear his response?"

"...almost got beaten..."

"...given up? I think so!"

Sakura craned her head around the corner to see what they were conversing about, but couldn't see anything amongst the sea of people. "What's going on?" she thought, somewhat nervously as she stood there, deciding what to do next. This type of frenzied mentality only seemed to appear after a fight...or during one. Her head snapped up towards the place where most of the people were facing as a loud cheer broke across the room. Suddenly anxious, she fought her way to the center of the crowd, knowing that at it's core a circular, raised platform used for fights stood.

But who was fighting? Gangs didn't usually use the gym to publicly show case their brawls. It was this very fact that led her to worry as she fought her way through the crowd. What if it was someone whom she knew who had gotten mixed up in something? Kiba, who was always so hot-blooded? Or Shikamaru who might have been forced to fight because of Ino? Or Sasuke...? Panic rushed up in her as the thought of Sasuke injured crossed her mind. He couldn't be....he just couldn't be.

Finally she reached the center of the gym, her hands colliding with the stone platform on which the fight had been. She raised her head to see who the fight had included, her eyes sweeping frantically across the scene. She spotted the upperclassman, Hyuga Neji, looking slightly battered with clothes that seemed somewhat mangled but mostly looking fine. He was panting a little bit but otherwise looked victorious. She could see Tenten behind him wearing a bright grin, surefire proof that Neji had won. So who had been his opponent?

She did not have to look long to find out.

There, lying a few feet from Neji, was Uzumaki Naruto, bruised, beaten and finally defeated.

* * *

**A/N: Well there you have it folks! The thrilling conclusion!! Naruo ends up dead somewhere and Tora sets his body on fire in the middle of the night on top of the school...then Sasuke and Sakura get married....**

**Just kidding. **

**Chapter fourteen will be out sometime much sooner than 9 months later. Until then, sit tight and wonder...what will happen next to our beloved hero? **


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Defeat Story

**A/N: I'M ALIVE! (amazing, isn't it?) I am so sorry! I don't know what I was thinking with a 1.5 year hiatus (that's some hiatus, writer's block or no writer's block!). Well, I suppose it's mostly due to the fact that my computer crashed two Septembers ago and I lost all my writing associated with this story. D: Luckily, however, I found it just recently so here we are at chapter fourteen... ^^;;; (nevermind that I had to reread all thirteen of the previous chapters to remind myself of how this story was going...) Eh hem. Well please forgive me for the boring chapter that follows (...you'd think after 1.5 years I'd have something at least _interesting _when I returned from the dead...yeesh). It was late and writer's block is still getting at me on this story but nevertheless, here we are! Thank you to everyone who is sticking by me as I continue to update slowly but surely!**

**Hinata: raindropdays does not own Naruto, the plot or the characters... **

**A/N: But I get my Hebi... which is made up of losers anyway... soooo... **

* * *

For a brief moment, shock seemed to grip Sakura by the throat, refusing to let her go. Though it was irrational for her to feel bad or even sorry for the boy whom she had pinned as an annoying jerk from day one, she couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety run through her heartstrings as she stared at his immobile body and blank, bruised face.

"He'd fought _Neji?_" she thought incredulously, as she tried to piece together the events that must have occurred. Her head snapped up to survey the rest of the room, especially Neji and Tenten. Neji was calmly dusting off his gi while Tenten was chattering away excitedly. Sakura wondered just who had challenged who and under what circumstances. Cautiously, she surveyed Neji's eyes; they'd always served to freak her out a little and could you really blame her? From his stance and the look on his face he didn't seem proud, but rather looked as though he had just finished doing something very unpleasant. So had he been forced into the fight? That explanation didn't quite make sense though.

Sakura's eyes wandered back to Naruo who was now struggling to recover from the blows he had suffered. "Well thank _goodness_ it wasn't Kiba or Shikamaru," thought Sakura as she watched Naruto sit up, cursing along the way, "Or Sasuke." She swallowed hard. Then again, Sasuke would have _never_ found himself in such an embarrassing position, Sakura was sure of it. That was the big difference between idiotic Naruto and brilliant Sasuke. Sasuke was a gentleman and Naruto was... a jerk.

Sakura turned away from the fight pointedly, seeing no more reason to watch a broken Naruto get to his feet. "Not that his ego couldn't use a few blows," she thought in sour reply to her conscience which was actually beginning to _feel _sorry for the bruised blond-headed jerk. "He _is_ a jerk," she assured herself with vigor, "One hundred percent."

She was stopped in mid-argument with herself when she was caught off guard by an odd sight. A few feet from her, through the anxious crowd was Hinata looking half-frantic, half in-awe. Struck with the sudden need to ease her guilty conscience (though for the wrong reasons and for the wrong person) Sakura made her way through the wild crowd towards her shy classmate.

"Hinata!" she called as she neared, giving a slight wave. Hinata seemed surprised to see Sakura there but politely waved back, greeting her fellow classmate as she neared. "You here alone?" asked Sakura when she finally reached Hinata as she looked back and forth, surveying the space around Hinata. Usually either Shino or Kiba would travel with the girl, Kiba being the more frequent companion of the two. Sakura wondered idly for a moment whether there was some rhyme or reason to that. "Where's Kiba?" asked Sakura, prompted by her random thoughts.

"He had to go home early," Hinata replied in a small voice. Sakura nodded, remembering how one of their classmates had departed early that day during English class. Of course, at the time she had been too bothered by Naruto to properly register just who it was exactly.

"And you came to the fight alone?" she wondered, amazed that Hinata would care to watch such events. Usually it would be bored, hyperactive-Kiba who would have dragged Hinata along. Sakura just couldn't imagine the nervous girl to be interested in school wide brawls.

"My cousin..." Hinata began slowly. The realization that it had been _Hyuuga _Neji up there handing Naruto's pride to him on a golden platter suddenly hit Sakura and she felt like an idiot.

"Right..." she replied slowly, deciding not to make mountains out of molehills. They were cousins. Complicated cousins, but cousins nonetheless. And that was all the explanation that was needed. Fumbling to change the subject, Sakura brought up Naruto's defeat. "So isn't it great that Uzumaki finally got defeated? His ego really could use a reduction."

At her words, however, Hinata let out a small gasp, and her face quickly fluctuated from pale to flushed. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Hinata with genuine confusion over her reaction. "Hinata?" she questioned.

"You don't think that um, Uzumaki is, um," began Hinata quietly, avoiding eye contact with Sakura, "hurt?"

Sakura was taken aback by this response. Someone was showing concern for Naruto. Okay, that she could handle. After all, she was sure that someone, _somewhere_ in this crazy, mixed up world could sort of, kind of, if-they-squinted, maybe tolerate(?) him (maybe sometimes...). But the fact that one of her _friends_ who had seen him as a lazy delinquent from day one right alongside her, could be worried about him after he was so rightly put in his place by her cousin? The thought took a moment to get used to.

"Um, because Neji wasn't holding back," Hinata added when Sakura didn't respond, "The opponent could really get hurt if Neji's not careful if he doesn't hold back."

This got Sakura's attention. "He wasn't holding back?" she asked to clarify Hinata's out-of-place words.

"No, not at all. Believe me, I know." Sakura believed her. But if Hyuuga Neji hadn't been holding back... Sakura glanced over her shoulder to where Naruto was still poking at his bruises and wiping stray specks and streaks of blood from his face. If Hyuuga Neji hadn't been holding back then that meant that the two of them must have been closely, if not, completely evenly matched. Was such a thing even possible?

Sakura glanced back at Hinata who still seemed worried even though Naruto looked fine, angry beyond belief over his defeat, but alright nevertheless. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Hinata," Sakura assured the dark-haired girl, "But just who started the fight?"

"I think Neji challenged Uzumaki," replied Hinata, her assurance of the fact growing as she spoke, "As an act of the student body for his rebellion and out of place behavior."

Sakura was caught off guard. So it hadn't been Naruto who had made the conceited and foolish challenge. "I see," she replied, her voice far off, drifting above the school and accompanying her thoughts that now circulated in her mind concerning this strange, new boy.

"I hope so," replied Hinata, "He was a good fighter. If he was fighting against anyone else, I would have liked him to win."

Sakura glanced at Naruto once again before turning to say goodbye to Hinata and leaving. Maybe Uzumaki deserved more credit than she pinned him for. An all too vivid flashback of her encounter with him earlier concerning his opinions on Sasuke promptly entered her mind and she quickly dismissed any favorable thoughts of Naruto.

Good fighter or not, he had a rotten attitude and an inflated ego twice the size of his body. Sakura angrily kicked at the dirt as she left the school grounds.

So then why did his defeat bother her so much?

* * *

Naruto was half-shocked, half-impressed, half-angry over his defeat at the hands of the pompous Hyuuga Neji. He was so distressed, in fact, that he didn't even notice that that description in fact implied that there was one and a half of him running about (which perhaps would have helped in the match against Neji), but no, there was still only one of him. Just one very upset and badly beaten Uzumaki Naruto, left sitting at the feet of Hyuga Neji as the whole school looked on with amazement.

Angrily, he struggled to his feet, ignoring the pain that shot through his legs and spread up his torso to his arms and back. This was nothing compared to what he'd suffered back home. But the humiliation from the entire school watching? Yeah, that he could have done without.

"Hey!" he shouted, his voice cracking in pain.

Neji, who had been in a conversation with Tenten at the opposite side of the arena just a moments before, glanced up at him, his eyes full of disgust. "What."

Naruto noticed the underlying anger in his opponent's tone and wondered just what he'd done to make the guy so angry. Mr. Creepy-Eyes had won, after all. Not caring much about his opponent's feelings on the whole matter, however, Naruto went straight into his question.

"What's your name?"

Neji smirked. "Asking for my name now, are you?"

Naruto had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. The guy had beaten him, yes. He had an attitude problem, also yes. And he had a bunch of swooning fangirls, yes yes. But, he also had a certain degree of elegance in his fighting style that Naruto borderline admired. And, he had been good enough to beat him, the one and only fearless, unbeatable (well... apparently, _almost _unbeatable) Uzumaki Naruto. His name seemed worth it, for the time being at least.

"Hyuuga Neji," Neji answered proudly, not waiting for Naruto to respond to his snide comment. He then turned and began to make his way down the stairs leading to the arena and through the crowded room.

"That's it, Neji?" called Tenten as she ran to keep up with him, "No threats? No warnings? Not even gloating?" Neji shot Tenten a semi-dangerous look over his shoulder at that last one. "Okay, fine, you don't _gloat_," Tenten corrected, "But nothing? Really?"

"He was decent and I won our fight. Uzumaki got the message," Neji answered plainly. Tenten, though not satisfied with the answer, decided not to push or prod Neji anymore over the matter. After all, he seemed tired from the match and even though he had been victorious, he certainly had had to work to come out the champion. Tenten bit her tongue as the thought that had been bothering her since the two had started their match bounced into her mind: the Uzumaki kid was good, as good as Neji. Good, dangerous and a gang leader. And she hated it.

* * *

"Well, that was interesting," Ren commented as the gym finally began to clear out. Hebi had caught wind of the match long before it had even began and had set up to watch from the second level overlook, with Tora at its very front, watching the match with eyes light a tiger.

"Positively thrilling," Tora remarked with an evil glint in his eye and a smirk on his face. Ren looked up curiously as if to question Tora's overenthusiasm for the outcome of the fight. Had Tora really been _that_ anxious to see Uzumaki beaten? And by a school council member at that. Ren chewed on his tongue with bitter disgust; he hated the school council goody-two-shoes almost as much as Uzumaki himself.

Tora caught the look on Ren's face and merely smiled. "Do not misunderstand, Ren, I do not care for the defeat of that piece of trash, Uzumaki," his voice silky smooth with sick anticipation, "No, that we will accomplish ourselves." A swift rumble of chuckles and grunts ran through Hebi as Tora straightened himself up from leaning over the railing. He straightened his glasses as he turned to face those most loyal to him.

"Ah, but can anyone guess who was missing from our little spectacle this afternoon?" he mused contently allowing the question to hang in the air, waiting for one of his faithful supporters to grab at the answer.

"Uchiha wasn't around," Ren muttered under his breath. Tora raised his eyebrows at the statement.

"Oh very true, that conceited bastard didn't seem to think it was worth his time," Tora gave a short and bitter laugh and a few members of the gang recoiled in practiced fear, "But no, that aside." He waited a few moments but no one spoke up.

Tora sighed with impatience turning to the member of Hebi whom he'd heard the least from throughout the entire meeting. "Don't _you_ have any guesses, Kamiya?" he shot, his irritability almost breaking his cool façade. Kamiya seemed to flinch at Tora's words.

"Hmph," Tora commented, turning his back on Kamiya and the rest of Hebi to survey the now empty gym that had just so recently been filled almost completely with eager spectators. "I had asked you to have a word with her," he spoke calmly and quietly under his breath. Still no response from Kamiya.

"I am dissatisfied with your inability or unwillingness or whatever it is that is preventing you from cooperating with our plans," Tora commented as the doors to the gym opened and a single figure entered, "So I've decided to take matters into my own hands."

"Now boss? Now?" a thug from near Tora practically begged as the figure stepped closer to their corner of the dimly lit gym. Kamiya winced slightly as he heard the thug's knuckles cracking.

"No, not yet," Tora responded delicately as he switched the main lights on momentarily blinding the lonely figure, "Let us give our guest a proper welcome." He stared down at the girl with a look of pure content and mad lust on his face. "Miso Tsukiyo, we've been expecting you."

Miso flinched as the lights blinded her eyes and Tora addressed her by name. How she hated the way her name sounded in his far too confident voice.

"Now I have a very important job for you, my dear, listen carefully," Tora instructed clearly. Miso had to fight back an urge to shoot him a look of insolence as he would have called it.

"No glare?" Tora commented softly. Miso still did not look at him. Tora gave a slight 'feh' under his breath; she wouldn't be ignoring him for long.

"Your job, Tsukiyo, the one you cannot refuse to me under any circumstances is simple," Tora announced, his cool exterior quickly returning as the next words fell from his mouth, "Kill Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

**A/N: I'm such an evil writer in that I always leave cliffhangers and never update... Well in this chapter, we got a little insight into Sakura's and Hinata's changing (are they really changing? You can be the judge of that...) perspectives about Naruto and Tora got to be egotistical and threaten pretty girls. Tora, Tora, Tora... that's just not how you get girls... XD; That aside, please review if you can as reviews are what primarily made me want to come back and work on this story after such a long hiatus. Thank you to all my readers thus far and I hope to see you much sooner in the next chapter! Much love!**


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Soccer Story

**A/N: Writing this story has become somewhat of a chore due to several factors. I plan to go through the whole thing once I've completed it and do a full revision. Nevertheless, here we are at chapter fifteen as I persevere on under the agreement with myself to update twice a week from now on... Don't give me skeptical looks! Just be happy a chapter's out... Now please enjoy as Shikamaru and Kiba get a little relationship advice from their best friends and Naruto gets himself into MORE trouble. XD**

* * *

If you squinted really hard and turned your head slightly to the side, it would seem as though nothing had changed in the least bit throughout the halls of Mikoto High.

Of course, you also had to be a complete idiot for that effect to work which may be exactly why Uzumaki Naruto was completely uninterested in the gossip and rumors that were currently swirling around him as he made his way to his first period class.

For once, he was early to class and no one knew exactly why. Well, maybe "early" was pushing it. He was more or less on time though which still elicited similar reactions from his fellow classmates as those that he might receive after biting a dog's head off with his teeth. It was blasphemous, unheard of, impossible! And for one strange and fleeting moment Sakura couldn't help but wonder if maybe Hyuuga Neji had succeeded in beating some sense into Uzumaki after all.

Though what was _she_ still doing thinking about _him_?

He was conceited and a jerk, at that, who had insulted both herself and Sasuke...

The name echoed in the back of her mind as she let her thoughts idly wander to him.

Why, oh _why_ did it have to be _Uzumaki_ chasing after her? He was the exact _opposite_ of everything Sakura wanted in a guy. He wasn't charming, he was dense as all get out and he had a bad habit of picking fights for his own personal amusement.

Naruto made his way to his seat and flopped down without so much as glancing at her. Though she was glad that he hadn't made a spectacle or fool out of either of them yet again as he often did, she couldn't help but feel a small pang in her chest. Was he hurt? Was he upset? Was he...okay?

Vigorously, Sakura shook off such strange thoughts and buried her head in a book, refusing to accept that she had even had them.

He was nothing to her. Nothing but a nuisance at least...

Three seats down Naruto was having internal conflicts of his own. While he had always made it a point to talk to Sakura every morning, for some reason he couldn't bring himself to face her this morning. He sighed as the distant sting of her slap tingled on his cheek. And of course the whole incident with Hyuuga wasn't helping things. Though he had to admit, despite his loss, he couldn't be bitter about the whole ordeal. Hyuuga was a good fighter—one of the best he'd seen. And he's fought honorably. He'd just been a little stronger... a little more practiced...

Naruto slammed the desk with his right hand a look of determination swimming in his eyes. That was it. He was going to get stronger. He _needed_ to get stronger; the battle with Hyuuga had taught him that much. As if the two thoughts were connected, Naruto glanced over at Sakura. She seemed to be angry about something or other as she was violently turning the page in her English textbook without so much as paying a bit of attention to the world around her. He suddenly had a strange feeling that perhaps he'd have to go about a different method to win over Sakura as well though at the moment he didn't know just what.

"If you're going to stare then _do_ something about it, Uzumaki," berated Ino from behind him. Naruto jumped at the sudden intrusion of her voice on his thoughts.

"What do you want?" he scowled, still blaming her partially for the slap.

"Nothing from you," Ino shot back, a look of annoyance clouding her eyes, "But if you're going to fix it then fix it. Don't you have that much honor at least?"

Naruto felt a small fuse in him snap at her comments. "I do have honor! A lot more than that Uchiha-teme has!"

Ino rolled her eyes. "You still compare yourself to him?"

Naruto suddenly felt that answering in the affirmative would be very bad despite its veracity. Instead he scowled to avoid answering and Ino rolled her eyes again.

"Listen, I already told you how to fix this," she almost spit through her teeth as Shikamaru entered the room. He took one look at her, sighed and then shook his head before taking his seat, which only served to fuel Ino's anger. "Take my advice or don't." And with that she strode off to 'meet' Shikamaru (if one could call it that) bonking him on the head as she approached him.

"You need to wave at me when you see me!" she nearly shouted.

Shikamaru sighed, trying to wave her away. "Why?" he groaned, "You're always doing something stupid and then demanding I do everything for you." Ino crossed her arms over her chest and did something she rarely ever did. She played up the innocent, hurt girl as opposed to the violent rash chick. Angrily, she stormed to her seat and plopped down, refusing to even look at Shikamaru. Shikamaru groaned again, smacking his head against a book that just conveniently happened to be sitting on his desk. "What did I do now?"

"You should be nicer, Shikamaru," advised Choji, leaning over to offer his input on the matter. The three of them had been friends ever since elementary school and though he knew that Shikamaru and Ino would always end up together, he still had to do a job of keeping them together. If Ino wasn't being too violent, Shikamaru was being too dismissive and in the end, it was always up to Choji to work things out between the two.

"If I'm nice, she throws a fit. If I'm quiet, she throws a fit," retorted Shikamaru, trying to explain his situation to Choji, "The woman is impossible to please."

"But she really likes you Shikamaru," Choji responded thoughtfully as though these words automatically negated all of which Shikamaru had just said, "I mean, Ino really _loves_ you."

Shikamaru sighed. A few moments of silence and understanding passed between the two guys before Shikamaru grudgingly got to his feet and made his way to stand in front of Ino's desk.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice more hurt than angry.

"You're such a bother..." he began, speaking as though the whole thing were extremely, _extremely_ troublesome. Which is was...maybe...

"And you are awful at apologizing to pretty girls," responded Ino, narrowing her eyes. Shikamaru had to exercise great restraint to keep from rolling his eyes.

"But I _am_ sorry," he replied.

Ino blinked. "Choji put you up to this."

Shikamaru didn't answer and strangely enough, that was good enough for her.

Naruto watched the entire spectacle, forgetting himself in the process. Somehow, he felt touched by the entire scenario to the point of wanting to make up with Sakura right then and there. As he was getting to his feet to do so, however, Kakashi suddenly appeared, shutting the door with a loud 'bang' that quickly attracted everyone's attention.

"Alright, alright, class, settle down," Kakashi announced as he made his way to his desk, not really looking at him as he did every morning.

"Kakashi-senseiiii," Naruto groaned, "You have the worst timing."

Kakashi stared at Naruto, not quite in shock, but rather mild surprise. "You're here on time, Uzumaki," he stated plainly, "Maybe that fight yesterday really did knock some sense into you..." Naruto was about to make a snide remark though Kakashi beat him to it with a simple "take your seat". And for some strange reason, Naruto obeyed catching odd looks from all of his classmates though two sets of eyes had perhaps, the most intrigue. One emerald set was predominantly filled with curiosity while the other, the lavender set, was filled with a slight sense of admiration.

Though Naruto, being who he was, failed to notice both and merely grumbled under his breath as he drew comics of him beating up Kakashi on his desk's surface.

Unluckily for him a certain dog-lover did notice, however.

And right then and there, Kiba was pretty sure he wanted to kill Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully for the usually high-strung blond as he alternated making up plans in his mind to either a) win back his loving Sakura b) reclaim his school-wide fame or c) run Sasuke/Tora (and possible Kakashi...) down with a bus. It wasn't until the very end of class and about a hundred poorly drawn comics featuring "The Great Naruto Uzumaki" later that Naruto realized he had quite a lot of problems staring him down in the face. He scoffed as he crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trash; his time for daydreaming was over. A few feet ahead of him, Sakura was already making her way out the door. If he didn't act quickly she would be—

"Hey, Uzumaki!"

Naruto cussed under his breath. _Really_. On any other day, he would have been fine with the arrogant voice that was now carrying his voice back to him. But today... it was just not his day.

"What." Naruto seethed as he turned to face the speaker. It turned out to be Inuzuka Kiba, his hot-blooded classmate that could be, under just the right circumstances, just as crass as he was.

"I don't like your attitude," Kiba shot dangerously which caused Naruto to roll his eyes.

"And I don't like you. Are we done here?" he was in a bad mood due to Kiba's sudden interruption to his plan to finally win Sakura and an even worse mood that it had been about something so pointless.

Kiba glared at Naruto, giving him an once-over as if sizing him up as a rival. "Yeah, whatever," he muttered, locking his eyes with Naruto's once again. "Just stay away from me."

Naruto shrugged. That would be easy; he never wanted anything to do with the dog-boy anyway. And with that, he quickly left the classroom, hoping he could still catch Sakura before she got too far, leaving Kiba to silently steam seemingly alone in the room.

That is, until Shino just so happened to conveniently emerge from the shadows as he so often did. "That was rather pointless," he mused, ignoring Kiba's sudden foul outburst for having 'snuck up on him'. "What is really bothering you?"

"Nothing," Kiba grouched, moving to grab his belongings and avoiding eye contact with his best friend of five years, "He just pisses me off."

"The boy is dense. Unless you really don't mean to give a proper warning, he will continue to draw the attention of her," Shino stated plainly and logically which caused Kiba to snap a pencil he was supposed to be packing.

"It's up to her, anyway," he huffed through gritted teeth, enunciating each word.

"Then perhaps your small tirade is directed at the wrong person," Shino offered. Kiba glared at Shino who just shrugged in response. "You have, after all, never really given her a reason not to do the things she does," he continued. Kiba brushed the comment off and headed for the door. Sure, that was true; he'd never really _told_ her how he felt. But it was implied, wasn't it? It was simple wasn't it?

Shino shook his head as his canine loving friend walked out. Though Kiba would hate to hear it, when it came to relationships, he was just as hopeless at Uzumaki. And he had a feeling that that would the undoing for the both of them.

* * *

Naruto had no luck catching up to Sakura. By the time he reached the entrance to the school, she was long gone, leaving the only Sakura-related thing in his path, the cherry blossom tree which he had seen on his first day of school. He sighed a defeated sigh as he slumped down under it, staring ahead though not really seeing anything. So much for all his hard work and planning. He closed his eyes, feeling utterly defeated.

"Uzumaki!" He heard a voice call, less hostile and more as a statement.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, irritably. People just _really_ liked saying his name today. And in all the wrong voices and completely the wrong context.

"Please stand and honorably accept my challenge."

Another fighter already? Maybe his reputation was saved after all. Naruto peeked one eye open to look at his challenger though he was immediately disappointed when his brain registered what he was seeing. Standing not too far from him was a boy who Naruto had never seen before—he probably wasn't in their grade—with an odd bowl cut hairstyle and a bright green jumpsuit. In his left hand was a soccer ball which he was skillfully tossing up and down and his eyes held a look of determination.

"I am Rock Lee of grade 12," the boy announced, ignoring the odd look Naruto was giving him, "And I am here to challenge you."

Naruto laboriously got to his feet, brushing some dirt off of his pants as he moved. "Yeah, well I'm not really interested," said Naruto carelessly.

"I am challenging you on behalf of my classmate and teammate, Hyuuga Neji."

That caught Naruto's attention. "Hyuuga?" he asked, making sure his ears hadn't deceived him. Lee gave a sharp nod. "Alright," said Naruto, a crooked grin breaking across his face, "This could be fun." He punched his right palm with his left to make a show of how serious he was taking this. Any 'teammate' or whatever of Hyuuga was a formidable foe and a good workout, Naruto was sure of it.

"Excellent. Then we will move to the field. Follow me," instructed Lee as he promptly turned and headed towards the soccer field next to the school building.

"Wait... the field?" Naruto questioned. Lee ignored him and continued walking, tossing his soccer ball back and forth between his right and left hands. "Hey, wait! Get back here!" He shouted after Lee as he realized just exactly what Lee had challenged him to.

He sighed. The day was just going from bad to worse...

Ten minutes later, Naruto stood in the goalie box, still silently cursing about his current position. He should have known better than to blindly accept a challenge. But the truth was, he was just itching for a good fight and he had to admit, the physical activity of the soccer game would prove to help with that. He had shed his jacket and bag in the dirt on the sidelines and was cracking his knuckles, staring at his opponent with not quite concentration, but rather anxiousness to get started.

"I will shoot five times," Lee announced from halfway down the field, the soccer ball at his feet now, "If you block the majority of the shots, you win. Vice versa for me." Naruto gave a sharp nod. So he had to block at least three shots? Big deal. He could block _all five_ in a heartbeat...with his eyes _closed_.

Lee readied himself to make the first shot as Naruto feigned boredom by pretending to yawn. That was probably a mistake. The ball sailed towards the goal with lightning speed that seemed particularly inhuman. Naruto barely had time to return his arm to his side before the ball had passed him and landed securely in the net.

Yeah... definitely a mistake.

Naruto did his best to prevent himself from gaping at Lee though he was doing a pretty bad job of it.

"Please do not disrespect me through such acts," was Lee's simple response.

Naruto wiped the look of surprise off his face and instead replaced it with one of determination. Alright, so the guy was good. Naruto could handle him. No problem. He leaned over and picked up the ball, throwing it back to Lee. "Alright," he called back, "No messing around! Let's do this!"

* * *

**A/N: A quick warning for the next chapter: I know nothing about soccer. Haha, which is really why they're having this weird shoot-off thing instead of an actual match. ^^; That said, I want to tell you all that next chapter picks up the story a little more... which is sorta true if only because Sasuke makes a bigger appearance. Now, I know, I know. Sasuke really is a bastard—I know this **_**especially **_**after I took an hour to read some of the latest chapters of Naruto today (haven't done that in months...). But please, humor the idiot and remember that this is the old, not **_**completely**_** revenge obsessed Sasuke we're going to be spending time with in the next chapter. And I rather liked him... ^^;;**

**Until then, please review! :D **


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